Guest Blogger: Bektu Solomon

We’ve just started learning about the division of Congress in Government and a large portion of the lectures up to this point have been focused on districts and their election/campaigning process; how states are divided, how representatives are chosen, how parties try to gain majority through gerrymandering, etc. etc. I don’t know why I’ve never noticed this, but apparently there are 468 people (house and senate included) running for re-election or election EVERY two years. Mr. Thompson actually commented that house members are practically constantly campaigning because they’re up for election almost all the time. That comment sparked a little “aha” moment in my head at the time; I’ve always wondered how elections got so messed up and diluted, how they became more about slandering your opponent then sitting down and discussing the candidates’ HONEST agenda and position. I’ve found an answer! Or at least part of the answer. Candidates, especially in the house, are constantly in limbo; they’re always having to fight for their jobs. I know that the majority of the time the incumbent wins, but they still have to campaign which means that every 2 years 435 people from the house alone have to devise the quickest, most convincing argument as to why they should be allowed to stay in office and the voters have to choose over and over again who should represent them. Keeping this in mind the quickest and most foolproof way does seem to be slandering the opponent and avoiding questions regarding the actual issues. That way the candidate who dug up the most dirt about their opponent looks better in comparison and in the meantime he/she hasn’t had to make any promises he/she can’t, or doesn’t intend, to keep. The frequency of the elections also partially explains why the incumbent has a much higher success rate than newcomers. I haven’t been able to vote yet, but I imagine the process of truly understanding the political viewpoint of every candidate gets tedious, and having to repeat the process every two years is just annoying. You’d probably have to be a really dedicated or interested person to constantly stay up to date on the positions during every election and I get the feeling that most people are like me (uninterested in the positions of people who rarely tell the truth) which probably explains the whole incumbent thing. Basically, both the voters and the candidates like to take the easy way out. Which is why politicians lie and America is fat. Yay, for the election process!