Walk this way, Vote this way.

The item to the left here was handed to me when I walked in to vote today. I politely asked “Is this my cheat sheet?” and was promptly told – “Yes.” I’m not sure why exactly but this bothers me just a little bit. I took the sheet, folded it, and put it in my pocket only to read it after I had voted. It is a list of who I should vote for according to the RWCA M-PAC – not really a cheat sheet as I had asked but not far off. I am surprised and at least a little disturbed that a PAC or Political Action Committee (name commonly given to a private group, regardless of size, organized to elect or defeat government officials or to promote or defeat legislation) can do this legally.

The group responsible has information and history on the back of their document and a website. My question is – if it is legal – why was only one group or PAC distributing these items. If it is illegal why are they allowed to do it?

I won’t assert that this has anything to do with their affiliation with the NAACP or their history as a minority group. I will say that I don’t think other groups of unique interest would be as welcome to distribute materials like these. Would people be upset if a Hispanic group did the same thing? What about a group that proposed that you vote for certain people because they were Jewish, Muslim or Christian? I certainly think the media would see this as being unreasonable or even unethical.

I know – the bully pulpit is loud and its reach is long. People will no doubt continue to have preconceived notions of what they should do based on party, gender, race, and a dozen other factors that won’t change. It isn’t fair to the people on the ballot and less fair to the people casting the vote. I guess I could go on to the larger problems in a two party system but there is really no point. We can’t change the system we can only hope to find ways to make it better.

In that regard I encourage everyone to look at the choices before you go to vote, know who is going to be on your ballot, and research the people running. Ignore their party, their race, their gender and focus on their policies and what they believe in. Odds are there are plenty of websites that can help with that and most importantly look at who is paying them. No – not their cute little stipend from the Government – the lobbyists, PACs, and corporations that are paying the bills. I rarely disappoint the individuals paying my bills and they don’t either – find out who’s paying your politician here.

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