The magazine of the North Carolina Center for Voter Education • Saturday May 19, 2012

For Voters, It's Time to Do Our Homework

By Damon Circosta
Published: Oct. 18, 2010

RALEIGH - Election 2010 is in full swing. Candidates are doing their best to persuade you to vote for them.

In this day and age “persuasion” might not be the most apt description, since the word connotes a thoughtful discussion with facts. Not so in this election.

Most of the political communications we receive these days are nasty in tone, loud in volume and woefully short on ideas. Perhaps the easiest place to witness the degradation of our political discourse is in the modern mainstay of politics: the 30-second attack ad.

By now you are familiar with the format: grainy unflattering photos of the opposing candidate, coupled with an incredulous voice accusatorily announcing that Candidate X wants to do all sorts of dastardly deeds. The rhetoric isn’t just that Candidate X wants to “raise your taxes.” Instead he wants to “steal your money.” He doesn’t want to “cut government services,” rather he “will put grandma out in the cold.”
 
These ads are not designed to appeal to your thoughtful side. They are designed to inflame.

Long ago political consultants figured out that people won’t vote unless they are emotionally invested. Republicans and Democrats alike know that anger gets people to the polls. Rants, accusations and hyperbole are winning out over an earnest and measured discussion of the issues. Sadly, in this day and age shouting wins.
 
The reason we see this kind of advertisement is because it works. The consultants are betting on us doing the bare minimum when it comes to our civic duty.

Sure, we are going to vote, but rather than spending the time and energy it takes to research the candidates, they want us to form a superficial impression based on 30 seconds of advertising. Under that scenario it’s the ad makers and the folks who pay for campaigns who are calling the shots.
 
But there are resources available to voters who want to know more about the candidates than what can be found in a shallow ad. Local newspapers continue to be an excellent source for in-depth and thoughtful coverage of the candidates and issues facing voters.

Another resource is NCVoterGuide.org.  Created by the nonpartisan N.C. Center for Voter Education and UNC-TV, the online guide brings together candidate statements and voting information to help you make the most of your vote. Think of the site as the opposite of a 30-second attack ad. It doesn’t shout and it isn’t designed to anger, but it will give you what you need to know to get beyond the consultant-produced campaign spots.
 
It’s a disturbing commentary on the state of our democracy that many of us will put more thought into which fast-food restaurant we eat at than who will represent us in government. When our only source of political information are these TV ads (and their close kin, the slick mail pieces) we get a pretty dim view of the people who seek to represent us. It’s no wonder that most of us view our government as hopelessly gridlocked and dysfunctional.
 
We voters are busy. It’s tough to juggle our various commitments to jobs, family, community and friends. After a long day, the last thing most of us want to do is spend time sorting through the various candidates, their platforms and qualifications.

Nevertheless, picking our representative isn’t a job we can outsource. Choosing the right candidate will take some homework and cutting through the clutter is going to take some effort.

If we want the government we deserve, we have to hold up our end of the bargain by taking the time to make an educated decision.