by Susan Kliebenstein

Created on: February 05, 2008

It seems to me that the presidential election matters more to the average American than it does to the American politicians who still seem to regard it as a sport. They seem to be willing to make any claim, hurt anyone, and lie about anything in order to get a vote.

Each of these candidates may truly feel that they are the best qualified candidate to lead this nation. But it is the truth that is necessary in order for the average American to make a good decision. The last 8 years of bogus leadership by a man who was willing to stick to his guns no matter what the facts dictated have left our finances, our military and our foreign policy in shambles. We live in a global environment that is about to self-destruct, and we have political parties that are still hell-bent on preserving their power. Gridlock serves the political and financial sector well, but it does not serve the American people.

The 2008 election is about change. But we must not throw aside experience and wisdom to get it. The election is about security, but we cannot set aside our constitutional rights in order to obtain it. And the election is about the presidency, but we must not ignore the fact that we remain dependent upon congress to legislate the American agenda. Presidential candidates can promise anything, but they cannot produce results unless they are able to work within the legislative process to bring their agenda to life.

Unfortunately we no longer have legislators who are responsive to those who elected them, but rather to the political party that claims them. If I write to a legislator about an issue I frequently get a response that tells me why my position is wrong and his is right. Polls frequently make it clear what the will of the people is. And yet the action which congress takes is to the contrary. This should not be the case in a representative form of government.
But what we have is a system presided over by power-brokers, infected by bribery disguised as lobbying, where the medium of exchange is pork-barrel spending.

In an election year when the future of our planet is literally at stake, the change I would like to see is to a truly representative form of government. Let every elected official poll his or her constituents on the issues concerning every bill and every amendment before they cast their vote. We have the technology to make this happen. We must find a way to mandate our representatives to represent us. I don't hear any of our candidates talking about that!

We need a system where an elected official caught lying to the American people pays the same price as one caught lying to a grand jury. We need a system where lobbyists no longer do their bidding in back room deals or private planes and sailing vessels, but in person with the citizens whose lives will be affected by their dirty deals.

We the people, the average Americans, care deeply about the 2008 presidential election, but we are also afraid that the system is too compromised and too corrupt to yield a result that can truly change the outcome of our current course toward self destruction. I pray it is not so. I pray that hiding beneath one of the shells of this political game is the real miracle that our nation needs. Someone who is not just a winner and a leader, but an honest man or woman determined to find a way for all of us to be represented.

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