Thursday, July 16, 2015

Memo to candidates on the statements in the voter pamphlet.

They were generally terrible.

People... a large percentage of voters make their decision looking at the ballot and the pamphlet.

I expect voter turnout will be nothing to brag about.  I also expect that most people haven't been paying all that much attention, since the element that gets people elected or unelected is actually missing, save for the fringe-left.

And that element is "anger."

The far left has it, but they they're always angry and typically hate-filled.  Having continued to be stuck on stupid for several years now with their advocacy of issues and projects the people of this county hate... and being reduced to elective office mainly in the socialist corner of the county, they have reason to be angry... at themselves.

You have 100 words available to you.  Lying about who you are and engaging in glittering generalities does nothing.  Basing your statements on non-existent or nebulous issues does nothing to further your cause.

Your statement has to reach the broadest possible audience.  And the problem with these statements is that none of them made a compelling argument to do anything.

Fortunately, this time around, we don't have to contend with the bald-faced lies of faux-GOP'er Greg Kimsey.  So, the actual candidate statements are fairly straight forward.

I repeat: you have 100 words to make a compelling argument as to why someone should vote for you.

When you're done writing your statement, do your very best to look at it as if you... did not know you...or of you.

Candidates, particularly long term candidates, frequently get locked into a cocoon of people who think and express themselves in similar ways.  Too often, they forget that the voters are not in the game, do not know the words and are not sitting next to them when the drama takes place.

While they are generally loud, at the end of the day, it is a very small number of activists on both sides of the issues who are making the most noise.  And that typically doesn't equate to votes.  If it did, we'd all be calling that idiot Pridemore "Councilor."

What some people consider to be "divisive" may not be what they believe it to be.  And what "division" there is was generated by the petulant, partisan jerks at the democratian and the C3G2 hate site.

Because at the end of the day, the fact is that this county is doing fairly well.  The economy is booming, construction is up, unemployment is down, the cursed rip off of the CRC did not get built and they're holding the line on taxes.  As a result, those talking about "divisiveness" and "civility" are trying to find an issue... any issue... that most people don't care about and which, in reality, has practically nothing to do with the outcomes of county government.

ANYTHING ELSE IS SECONDARY TO THAT.

Let me restate that for the brain-impaired.

ANYTHING ELSE IS SECONDARY TO THAT.

THOSE are the elements of government the PEOPLE see and understand.

The rest of it is nebulous crap.

Those who rabidly supported that attempted theft of the CRC Scam (Boldt, Dalesandro, Green, Pond, Olson) certainly made no effort to tell the voters that... or that their current position is to scam another version of that very, hated, project down our collective throats.

Correspondingly, those who actively opposed that idiocy chose to, for whatever the reason, leave victory out of their descriptions as well, as if the Vancouver Hobbit, Sen. Annette Cleveland, had not attempted to awaken that sleeping giant by adding $3 billion or so to the transportation budget to pay for it a very few months ago.

The CRC or one of its derivatives is very much alive.  The voters need to be reminded of that at every opportunity, including in the voter pamphlet.

Every candidate supporting that insanity needs to be called on it.

The fringe-left whack jobs that lied their collective asses off while wasting $200 million tax dollars over a decade, cannot be allowed into a position where they get to screw us again.

In short, the ideal voter pamphlet says very little about who you are; says a great deal about how you'd address the problems confronting the people you would govern, and then drives people to your website while asking them to call your campaign cell phone that you specifically bought for the campaign... if they have any questions or concerns.

For example:
As your councilor, I am most concerned about jobs, transportation and taxes.  Everything we do must have these priorities.

Reducing fees, taxes and burdensome regulation on business will put people to work. 

Having fought for you against the CRC/Light rail boondoggle, we must address our cross-river transportation issues by building additional bridges and only then, replacing the I5 Bridge while saying “no” to Portland’s light rail.

We must live within our means, and I will not support any increase in taxes or fees.

For more information, call me or go to my website.  I look forward to hearing from you!
Talking about nebulous crap that most people are unaware of... writing in terms of the ubiquitous "glittering generality" may make you feel better, but it won't get you votes.  Most people are not and have not been in your position, Candidate.  Most people view these issues in terms of "how does this impact me and my wallet?"

People have long since blown past the background noise of leftist hatred permeating the media coverage of local politics.  That horse has been kicked to death as a part of the coordinated effort between leftists and their local mouth organ.

In politics, you need to provide reasons to vote for specific people and reasons to vote against people.  To be the most effective, that requires a word picture that voters can easily understand, instead of presuming that anyone reading the pamphlet is fully appraised of issues related to, for example, what is "divisive" and WHAT DIFFERENCE THAT MAY MAKE TO THEM.

The leftist candidates here are, as they so usually are, hoping the voters are stupid.  They present zero vision, zero ideas, zero plans.  Because they have none.

But most of those on the right have done little more themselves, missing a golden opportunity to use this mailer as the campaign piece it could have been.

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