Calvin's Rant

There are, in my opinion, three factors that contribute to the election of any candidate. These factors are money, fame, and level of controversy. Money is a major reason because the candidate with more money to spend wins the election more often. Through contributions of “hard” money (money donated by supporters) or “soft” money (money “donated” under the table to encourage support for a certain issue or stance), as well as personal funds, candidates are able to by advertising spots to get their name out the most. This leads to the second factor, fame. Voters, especially in this day and age, are more likely to vote for the candidate they recognize more. A major influential factor in fame is media bias, which is when the media takes a side on a particular news story. Never was this more apparent in recent memory than the presidential election of 2008. The media (not counting the always biased Fox News) was more than a little biased towards Obama. It was because of this bias that he went from presidential candidate to international celebrity. One more reason that a candidate gets elected is level of controversy, or how much a candidate angers political action committees (PACs). These special interest groups, when angered, will do anything in their power to prevent a candidate they don’t like from being elected. Unfortunately, these groups win most of the time. When fame and fortune are the biggest reasons for a candidate being elected, democracy loses. The only solution is to require voters to give reason for voting for a specific candidate, though it would lower voter turnout, it would get candidates elected for the right reasons.


Definitions Not Included:
Political Parties – political groups that have specific ideals