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First off, who's ever really happy with the answers given by candidates anyway? Secondly, most candidates that actually run for any kind of political office aren't politicians by education or experience. You can't expect former teachers or lawyers to give accurate and informed answers off the cuff to reporters on the economic status of big business or foreign affairs. That's what they hire advisors for, to answer those questions. In some cases those candidates that run for office aren't even running because they want those positions. Members of political parties are swapped and traded through departments and ministries at the whim of the higher-ups for the good of the party and the country.

The most important reason for refraining from answering questions outside of a controlled setting is to maintain party solidarity. We all know that politicians aren't always around all the time; they're busy flying overseas to check up on the troops, traveling across the nation to bring up their appeal ratings, or sometimes they just don't want to go into the office because it's such a nice day outside. When they're left out of the loop you can't expect them to know the right answers. And if they give one that their party didn't tell them to give, who looks silly then?

Speaking of looking silly, a lot of our leaders don't even write their own material. It's always good to be a master debater, but in our modern societies it's not always about what politicians are saying but how they're saying it. Spin words and catch phrases dominate out political landscape and help to further confuse citizen voters. A lot of the time we can't look to political candidates for the truth because so much of what is said is rhetorical and used for political gains. Even if candidates were to answer question from random reporters you'd still hear the same old things being said about the economy, education, environment, and everything else anyone could ask. Do you really want to hear a broken record every time you want answers?

It's up to voters to get the answers their looking for since investigative journalists seem to have let the ball drop awhile back. If you want to know how a candidate will run the country then look at their party's websites and see what they've been doing and who they're in bed with. And if you don't like the answers you're getting from your elected officials then look at their actions rather than their words. And if you're still not happy kick them out of office. Next time you're looking for a straight answer, ask what colour their house cat is. If you're lucky you'll get the truth.

Learn more about this author, Jason Longster.
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