The politics of fear

[MadHound]

Well, as they say, we're well into that silly season, an off year election. As with any other election, each side is trying to scare its adherents into voting for them. The 'Pugs are using the fear of a black, socialist, Muslim, Kenyan, anti-colonialist to scare their side to the polls. The Dems are using the fear of the 'Pugs, in their latest reincarnation as whack a doodle Tea Partiers, return to power in order to scare their side to the polls.

And therein lies the problem.

Fear is an easy and cheap way of getting out the vote. You don't have to work very hard, relatively speaking, to get people to the polls. All you really have to do is fill the airwaves and newsprint with ever louder screeching about fear, Fear, FEAR.

This ever increasing drumbeat of fear allows the candidate to be free to do. . .nothing, especially if you're an incumbent. You don't have to pass meaningful legislation, in fact you can vote against the best interests and wishes of your constituents. You don't have to spend political capital, you don't have to do much at all.

Fear has been always been an element of any political campaign, but the use of fear has really ratcheted up in the past three decades. Meanwhile, the lack of meaningful legislation, or worse, of legislation that goes contrary to the interests of your base, has increased. Why not skip that public option, when all you have to do is scream "FEAR" six months later. Why not push through welfare "reform" when all you have to do is scream "FEAR" during the next election season.

This does a huge disservice to our country and to us. Any politician, especially an incumbent, can do virtually anything and yet when it comes to the next election, they run on FEAR, not their record, and win.

Don't let FEAR guide your vote, don't let politicians off that easily. Instead, force them to run on their record, what they have accomplished, not how loudly they can fearmonger.