Where once I was naive enough to believe that the candidates I was asked to vote for were the best man or woman for the job. It did not take long to realize that a candidate is “given” to the voters through a process that does not involve the local voter at any level.
Very few candidates survive having lost either their first race or having the belief “Win one and you have an open field” lost when their idea of infallibility smashed into the wall of reality.
The only candidate I know who came back from political Gehenna is Mike Grant and for good reason. Mike looks, sounds, has the intelligence to do the job for which he seeks. He has confidence and is fully aware of the modern political scene: one of corporate capture and its need to be satisfied.
The cost to run for office, once something to be funded by donations from the voters, is now one where the voters seem unwilling to dig deep into their pockets or see that PAC money is dominating both the selection of candidates and what is spent on electing them.
Those elected to state legislatures are now the darlings of the political world. The left does not have its version of Donald Trump, one who can control the political dialogue whether he is liked or disliked, so they must gain control of states and hopefully congress.
Trump has picked a group of what might be called diamonds in the rough and found they were more polished than first thought.
JD Vance and Marco Rubio are perfect stand-ins for Trump and while the Republicans have a slim majority in both houses, they have managed to put what is left of the traditional Democratic Party back on its heels and has brought to the fore the Democratic Socialist wing to a point where they will be the core of the Democratic Party.
With states either becoming red or blue, it is a battle to get house members and senate members in both state houses and the federal level.
Trump has made his choice. He is not going to fight for house seats but show the voters he is not only president but a real Commander in Chief by kicking the s**t out of Iran.
Those having been elected will have to fend for themselves to prove to the voters that a safe nation is a nation that will bring economic prosperity to the citizens.
Locally, it takes issues that are costly or have the potential to frighten the voter to get the first-time candidate over the winning line. Being of the same party means nothing when money and influence drive elections.
Building trust among the voters and putting the idea of a need for a new view of expensive projects that may not be needed is what drives local elections.
On the national scale those elected must have more than what we see locally.
With the media hungry for views, it creates scenarios that the local stations use in regional broadcasts and national questions that always seem existential for the national audience.
Iran will, when the war is over, have a monumental rebuilding project on its hands, not only in infrastructure but politically along with a full rehabbing of its credibility.
As we progress, we find that information at every level is needed if we are to solve what continues to be costly. Ai was given to us because it was needed. We will benefit as well as all societies. The energy required to make it all work will be ongoing, with more demand and the costs that go with it.
We need those with enough knowledge and the ability to communicate with the public so they can speak in terms the public will trust as accurate.
Politics is promotion at its best and much of what is sold to us is not endorsed by those who promote it so much as it is the job they must do to make sure that they will be the preferred candidate next time around.
It takes thousands of wanna-be candidates before we get those with enough of what is needed before they go before the public to sell us what those at the higher levels want.
Everything will become more expensive and that will be the limiting factor to keep the currency from cratering. Apparently there is a limit to “how high is up.” Who knew?
By Dr. Richard Pitz, Senior Blog Contributor