Thursday, August 26, 2010

‘The November Election - Have Candidates Heard The Voters?‘
  Election 2010 piece by Thomas D. Segel

Harlingen, Texas, August 26, 2010:  Those who have been following the various primary elections across the country must have noticed that nobody is safe.  Just being an incumbent places the candidate in a danger zone.  Having a Democrat or Republican name-tag will only garner a person a small following of voters.  Some observers feel that a candidate coming from “political nowhere” has a better chance of winning than anyone with a long track record in politics.

The Republican Party left me when it decided to become Democrat-Lite.  As a fiscal conservative I could not accept the elected GOP clan being engaged in a spending spree that defied logic.  Little did I know at the time there was to be a migration of conservative voters away from the Grand Old Party and into the ranks of the Independents.  With the upcoming election Republicans will win back many of the disaffected, but not on their own merit.  Having no place else to turn and seeing how radically leftist the Democrats have become, Independents will vote for the least offensive of remaining candidates.

I recently told readers of my election quandary and stated that what I was looking for from the Republicans was a platform I could believe in and one they will pledge to follow.  I want the candidates to sign a contract similar to what they had in 1994.  But, this time I want them to keep all their pledges and promises. Nothing turns voters off faster than broken promises and those out-and-out lies.

I then asked my readers what they would like to see happen in Washington.  The responses are still filling my mailbox, but I have already seen some very unexpected answers to my question.

First of all, there seems to be a huge number of people who once wore party labels and now vote only as independents.  Though most of my readers come from the ranks of the military, military retired, veterans, plus business and professional people, they all have one thing in common…distrust of government.  Layered on top of that would be… rage against big government.

We have all heard that people are angry about the poor economy, the Obama healthcare legislation and our high unemployment.  Those three things did not appear the main concern of those responding to my inquiry.

At the top of the list so far…people want to see term limits for everyone in Congress.  In related comments they would like to see a freeze on congressional wages, a requirement that all laws passed by Congress must apply to every member of that body, and along with term limits, no retirement for those who serve in the legislative branch.

Next up on this voter shopping list was securing the borders, an end to earmarks and a strong examination of converting our tax system to either the flat tax or the fair tax model.

The readers want a return to constitutional values and strict adherence to states rights.  They want to see smaller government, meaningful morals and ethics legislation, and a logical plan that will solve the Social Security and Medicare insolvency situation.

There will be much more to report concerning voter comments on the upcoming election.  However, as of today, there are more than thirty areas where these voters want to see change. But, unlike the change promised by the Obama campaign, the changes these voters want are to correct everything they dislike in Washington today.

Semper Fidelis

Thomas D. Segel
http://thomasdsegel.com/

Posted by Thomas D. Segel on 8/26/10

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