At a retirement party for Palmerton Area Librarian Dorothy Strohl this afternoon, a friend asked me where she could go to get objective material on the candidates. Candidates do have signs posted around the area, but most of them simply give the name. She said she wasn’t even sure which candidate was running for what office.
Unfortunately, there’s no great source of objective information on candidates. The Times News may run profiles close to the election, but I would’t trust that paper on anything related to politics. (Or reviews of acts appearing at Penn’s Peak, for that matter.) Local television is a joke, and the candidates’ websites are obviously not neutral, plus you have to find them.
The Pennsylvania League of Women Voters does have website that will help you with some candidates, but candidates write their own material and not all candidates have links. Still, you may find it helpful. Go to <http://palwv.org/voting/vote.html> and click on Smart Voter.org near the top of the page.
One problem with any truly objective info source is that it won’t seem objective if it tells the truth. Suppose I told you that during the Obama Administration, the U.S. has lowered its dependence on foreign oil. That’s actually true, but it would make Republicans howl. Suppose I told you that Representative Doyle Heffley voted for a bill that forces Pennsylvania women seeking abortions to submit to an intrusive ultrasound. That’s also true, but I doubt if Heffley is trumpeting that fact.
Actually, don’t bother with the League. Just email me. I’ll tell you who to vote for.
Sadly when it comes to local elections good information is hard to find, if not impossible. In a recent election we had this issue.
ReplyDeleteI am not fond of social media but it can be somewhat helpful in this case. If the candidate has a Facebook page you can possibly get some sense of their politics. Check out their likes. If they like Rush Limbaugh etc. Well, you get the idea.
In regards to Facebook--their just was a vote in congress to restrict employers from asking prospective employees for their user name and password so they could access their page and look for issues that they feel would not make them the kind of employee they want. The republicans voted it down.
So, if they feel that employers need to have access, I ask are not our duly elected representatives our employees? I want their passwords. Just thinking.