by Rich Browne

Created on: May 22, 2008

Is the current crop of political candidates generally missing an opportunity to connect with voters on government issues?
Probably, but it really isn't the candidates fault. Few candidates ever will run solely on open government issues. Why should they? Open government issues don't deliver something directly to the individual voter and it is promising to deliver something to the voter that politicians win elections, something that affects the voter directly.

Could candidates make an issue of open government? Yes. But the problem then would be how to actually implement their promises.
While polls may show that the average voter is concerned and wants an open government, that same voter is going to be thinking and listening to the other promises a political candidate makes that truly are the litmus tests that people use. These will be the issues that dominate the day's cable and television news and make headlines in the local newspapers, and are debated around the kitchen table or the office water cooler.
While Americans will tell pollsters they are quite concerned about open government, rarely do they seem to get too agitated when government acts quietly behind closed doors. This can most often be seen at the local government level, where voters rarely follow the actions and activity of their municipal councils, utility and school boards. That is, of course, unless there is an issue that affects their pocketbook directly or something else that impacts the individual.
In many places, we already have open government in some measure, but few avail themselves to it. How many people actually watch the Congressional hearings and sessions aired on C-SPAN or the local government councils that air their meetings on the local cable access channel?
How many individuals actually read the Congressional Record or the records of legislative councils at their state and local levels? How many actually can attend the endless committee hearings?
Unfortunately, most voters don't really pay attention to whether their governments are acting openly or not. Nor do these voters take advantage of the things they can access to keep them informed about the actions of the various levels of government.
This is understandable, because who really has the time. Most rely on surrogates such as journalists to tell them what is happening with their governments at each level. However, viewing the world through the prisms of the gatekeepers and reporters in the media can be a dangerous thing. It can be more deceptive than real, depending on the medium.
So, whether the current crop of politicians make an issue of open government really is irrelevant. The problem lies not so much with the politicians as it lies with us, the voters.

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