With the political soup getting as thick as peanut butter as we approach the 2008 elections one wonders if the voters are ready for all the rhetoric. It currently seems that the war of the sound bytes and gaffes of the modern day American Presidential elections began as soon as George Bush took his second oath of office in 2005. Today that means you might as well avoid CNN unless you want to hear who Hillary is allying with this week or whether Obama is managing to keep his fundraising on par with his rivals.

With the all hoop a la one can hardly help but wonder to whom the candidates are playing this week. In other words, which demographic group have their analysts advised them to address in order to win them over. Of course, we know that this tactic only leads to another debate between candidates to try to derail any points that one or the other has won. Given that, I have basically given up hope in the candidates ever offering us anything that they truly believe in. Since 2000 it has become obvious to many of us that all we are going to hear from those running for office are a pack of false promises that tend to overtake the truth and keep us all teetering precariously on the edge of oblivion, as was seen in the Florida debacle when George Bush stole the presidency from Al Gore.

However, while I can appreciate voter’s apathy in relationship to national elections where they feel that their vote rests in the hands of the electorate and has little significance that does not excuse voters from getting involved in their local races. Contrary to national races where we know that the candidates have no intention in living up to their campaign promises and allow themselves to be choked out by the machinery of big business and corruption local officials can be held accountable by the locals that they represent. Some of these elections while seemingly less important to many are for alderman or city councilman who determine things like where you can build a house, where you can eat, and whether you will have adequate police and fire services if there is significant growth in your area.

Simply put, now is the time for you to make a decision to be involved in your community. If you are 18 years of age, you are legally able to run for local offices in most communities and you don’t need to be wealthy or hold a specialized degree to do so. What you do need is a desire and willingness to serve your community while realizing that it is often going to require hard work and resolve to work through the tough issues. With that said, I challenge you to not only support your elected officials but also to consider serving as one if you are needed. If you are unable to serve it is still your responsibility as a citizen to keep track of those ordinances and decisions made by your local government to ensure that they are making intelligent and well thought out choices that are sure to affect all the members of your community.

[tags]Campaign Promises, Elected Officials, local government, Florida elections, national elections, presidential elections, George Bush, Hillary Clinton, Obama, political corruption[/tags]