When democracy was born in ancient Greece they used to vote, just as we will next fall.
There was, however, a significant difference in how they cast their ballots. They would write the name of the candidate they did not want to win on a piece of broken pottery, which they used as their ballot. When the ballots were counted, the candidate with the fewest negative votes won the election.
I’m not exactly sure how that would work in our elections — voting against someone instead of for him/her. But, every time I see another negative commercial, I am strongly inclined to vote against the one who initiated it.
On second thought, the speeches and commercials seem to be encouraging us to do just that.
We have seen a succession of TV commercials where each one seems worse than the last. Most of the time, they provide a long list of the perceived inadequacies of their opponent. They don’t even attempt to tell us anything about what their candidate is for, or what that candidate would do if elected to our country’s highest office.
If anything, the debates have been worse, especially on the Republican side.
It took a dozen debates before we heard the first thing about the issues. If we listened closely, we know which candidate is short, which one is low-energy, and which woman interviewer has “blood in her eye.”
We have heard boasts about accumulated wealth — much of it made on gambling and booze — and even a reference to who has the largest hands.
We have a country that has come through a serious recession over the past several years. Unemployment is only now back to normal. We have been fighting two wars in the mid-east and are considering again sending troops to deal with another manifestation of that festering war that has tortured the region for more than 3,000 years.
In short, we have problems to deal with.
Unfortunately, we have a Congress that has a public image lower than a snake-oil barker and the primary word used to describe that elected body over the past four years is “gridlock.” Absolutely nothing of substance has been accomplished in Congress in recent years. In fact, more than 50 votes have been cast on one issue in the House of Representatives, even knowing that measure won’t pass.
That is a clear case of wasting our time and our money.
Folks, we have dug a deep hole for ourselves and we need to start climbing out of it. Whether it is a child or a country, we must foster growth and development, we must change with new challenges, we must assess current circumstances and handle each problem as it comes.
How we do that should be the responsibility of our best minds elected to lead us. Gridlock is the result of bull-headed, self-centered individuals who seem to think compromise and negotiation are bad words. We should have little patience with those who close their minds and won’t listen to opinions that are not their own.
Elections should be invigorating times. We should have the opportunity to hear new solutions to our continuing problems. We should be able to evaluate the capabilities of our future leadership. Most of all, we should be given the opportunity to see our future through the eyes of the candidates running for office.
Unfortunately, that isn’t happening in this election season. Instead, the sleaze has been so heavy it is hard to imagine it getting worse, but it can and probably will.
Do you remember that old Johnny Mercer song, “Accentuate the Positive?” It told us to “eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative, and don’t mess with Mr. In-Between.”
I am not sure if any of our political candidates can sing, but if they could, “Accentuate the Positive” would make a wonderful theme song.
Dr. Mark L. Hopkins writes for More Content Now and Scripps Newspapers. He is past president of colleges and universities in four states and serves as executive director of a higher-education consulting service.
Contact him at presnet@presnet.net.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: HOPKINS: Memo to the U.S. Congress — accentuate the positive, please