I will not vote for anyone because of their color or race. Those attributes are received at birth, and have no bearing upon one’s subsequent qualifications to lead in public office. Nor will I vote for anyone who campaigns using color or race as an issue.
I will not vote for anyone on the basis of their religion. My experience (74 years of it) shows absolutely no relationship between one’s religion and their abilities and/or qualifications for public office. Nor will I vote for a candidate who campaigns using religion as an issue, positive or negative.
I will not vote for a candidate who does not accept the premiss that by choosing to enter public office, their own private lives are no longer “private.” No secrets. Open books. That being said, I also understand that many of our most promising potential public leaders refrain from running for office for this very reason.
I will not vote for a candidate based upon his or her ad agency’s trite, glossy mailer, showing a gorgeous wife or handsome husband, smiling children cuter than mine, or endorsements by groups that have a vested financial interest in their election. Of the 30 or 40 mailers I have received in the past weeks, only one listed actual goals (not platitudes that insult my intelligence) and a suggested course of action for achieving them. All the rest were the same; colorful, trivial, uninformative and useless except for increasing my bi-weekly contribution to paper recycling.
And finally, democracy is seriously threatened and tainted by the cancer of money in campaigns, and money in lobbying after campaigns. It is now close to insanity.
Sorry if this sounds negative, and yes, there will be many blank spaces on my ballot. But there will be a few candidates receiving my vote because they earned it. Good for them.
Marv Glaser
Chattanooga