November Referendum (US Politics)

[Cerb]

Heh - I messed up the question. Basically, I asked whether you are happy with your representatives and the current federal government.

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I wanted to get the feel from other US citizens about the performance of the current government. I think a lot of people went to the polls two years ago with a lot of hope in their hearts for a positive change.

So, what do you think?

[Takaram]

I would say that we should sack them all, but they'll just get replaced by more people cut from the same cloth.

[Enigmatic]

Hey, I agree with Tak. I think that might be a first in the debate thread. ;D
Republican, Democrat, whatever. They're all pretty much the same. You have to look very hard to actually find someone worthy of being elected. They're few and far between unfortunately. The best you can do is the lesser of two evils.

[Takaram]

I propose that we ask everyone in the nation who wants to run for a government office. Anyone who says yes should automatically be disallowed from running.

[Cerb]

A sad indictment of our politics to say the least.

I'm tempted to start another poll. How often do you let your representative have "representatives perogative"?

I'll write to them on a 'big' issue, but I don't really pay attention unless there's a hot topic. I think that's a mistake.

I'm going to be writing to mine though to give them my mind on the immigration reform bill

[Takaram]

Actually, in the type of politics that we have, I think the thing I look for most is how closely the candidate follows public opinion. They have been elected to represent their constituents, and they should based upon the opinions of their constituents, not their own biases.

[Anime Daisuki]

Pro-life, pro-Jew, pro-gun, blah blah blah.........

We need a pro-anime candidate. ;D

[Estayland]

The tea party has largely failed in my area. While people complain about incumbents, they were reelected easily in the primaries. As I told people, "It's the experienced people that screwed things up. I doubt inexperienced people would do any worse."

[zarwa]

True it's sad really I'm just reaching voting age and as excited as I am to vote I don't feel as though our political system in the U.S. is going in the right direction. I'm deeply interested in political debate and frankly what i see is upsetting. I take the stance of our first president i think political parties were a poor choice. I believe politics should be based on your own personal beliefs and how well you can back them up with FACTS not hear-say and party lines. That our system should focus on personal responsibility and in-turn political responsibility.
Just saying

[Enigmatic]

Jul 6, 2010 15:39:42 GMT -5 Takaram said:

Actually, in the type of politics that we have, I think the thing I look for most is how closely the candidate follows public opinion. They have been elected to represent their constituents, and they should based upon the opinions of their constituents, not their own biases.

That sounds really good when it's something you agree with, but not so much when it's something else. How far back would civil rights have been set if some of our elected officials hadn't directly contradicted the opinions of their constituents? I think we ought to be electing people who will do what is right regardless of public opinion and without thinking about their chances for reelection. Of course the trick to that is there's a lot of debate about what's right and issues get muddied very easily. I suppose I should amend my previous statement to include "who can regularly differentiate right and wrong."