Trying to stay clean in dirty politics

Political ads have hit each media outlet pretty hard over the last couple of weeks. There are some that are clean, cut and dry, but there are a lot on the television and in the newspapers bashing the opposition.

Now here is a key question, do the bashing ads really convince people to vote for a person or are they simply viewed as entertainment?

Another question people may want to ask that I don’t necessarily have the answer to is; After the political races are over, do those who hammered each other during the campaign season still act cordial around one another or was there a line crossed that cut so deep the relationship they may have had in the past serves as nothing but a distant memory?

The ads have never affected me as a voter. Some of the bashing ads can be just out right funny, but some can be so dirty that it makes you cringe and say to yourself “Man that was bad.”

The only thing I as a voter pay attention to is what the person running for office stands for.

Before I became a reporter I could honestly care less who won what and when. I am, however, a registered voter and have voted in every election since I was 18 years old. I had an ethics teacher at UNA who pressed the issue to our class about how it is our civic and American duty to go out and decide who runs things.

I’ve had people to also tell me that if you don’t vote then you have to drop your right to complain about how things are done. These statements really pushed me to keep voting because I want to keep my right to vote and keep my right to complain if things go terribly wrong.

Now that I am a reporter with the FCT, I really pay attention to what all the candidates are offering to change and how it is going to benefit me. Why in the world would I vote for someone who is going to give me a hard time when I come to get information from him or her?

I can’t speak for the other people in my profession, but I imagine they all feel the same way. The only way media outlets such as this newspaper survive is through people in the community who are willing to share information and by being able to work closely with community leaders like the ones who are being voted for on Tuesday.

Hopefully the people who made promises to me will keep their word if they get in office and make my job a lot easier.

No matter who wins come next Tuesday, I believe most all the candidates ran good, hard and interesting campaigns this year and I hope that whoever gets into the leadership role works closely with us to make our newspaper better.

Good luck to all the candidates come Tuesday.

There I’ve said my peace. Until next time, Later Dayz…