by Linda Sunkle-Pierucki

Created on: October 09, 2008

In the midst of information overload, we seem to be suffering from a dearth of information in this Presidential election cycle. All we seem to be able to access is canned, pre-programmed questions and incomplete answers that leave the voter puzzled and annoyed. If we ever hope to have a fully-informed electorate, we must devise a better method of ferreting out the complete answers to questions of policy, budget and philosophy. Both campaign staff and the media appear to be complicit in maintaining this control over information, much to the frustration of the voters.

Early in this election cycle, when minor candidates attempted to bring an issue they felt strongly about to the fore, they-and we-were sternly told, "That is not an issue". They were then prevented from getting their solutions, or a comparison of solutions, before the people. Control of the issues is as unfair as control of the candidates we are allowed to hear. It is un-American and an affront to the democratic process we hold so dear. The pretense that issues are not issues and candidates are not "viable" is an obvious attempt at collusion by the major parties and the media to control access to information and prevent the electorate from making an informed choice. The People are angry-and they have every right to be.

Carefully choreographed speeches and "debates" are fine-they all have their place. But, the actual questions the voters want answered are nowhere on the agenda. Deciding what the issues will be is not the job of either the candidates or the media. This is the natural purview of the voter-only the voter knows what his concerns are. We now are treated to "town hall"-type meetings in which all questions must be approved in advance. Those that touch on highly partisan issues and on areas the candidates wish to keep hidden are never allowed to be asked. The campaign format must be changed to allow the public unfettered access to answers from candidates-answers to the questions THEY want answered.

For several years, NAFTA and world trade and its relationship to job loss have been of major concern to middle America. And, for the same number of years, we have been informed that it is "not an issue"! Obviously, it IS an issue-and no candidate who expects our votes should be allowed to weasel out of the tough questions the voters want answered. When major candidates refuse to talk about important issues, and media limits our access to candidates who ARE willing to talk about these same issues,

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