[Indydealmaker]

Originally Posted by Talk Host

Let's not be too hard on political campaigning. It is the purest form of freedom of speech and the very thing that our troops have fought and died for over the centuries.

We all want to elect candidates that best reflect our own philosophical view. Without campaigning, how will be know who that candidate is? After all, candidates have a very small window, about 90 days in which to convince you that they are the best one to represent you. (This is a representative form of government.)

People object to door to door campaigning.

People object to television and radio campaigning.

People object to direct mail campaigning.

People object to yard and billboard signs.

Yet, this is the single most important patriotic decision we all make in a years time.

These thousands of dollars are not spent to get you to vote, they are spent to get the people who are already going to vote, to vote for that particular candidate.

I think it is sad that people don't take the campaign mail home and read it in order to make a more educated decision on election day.

Radio and television stations hate political advertisements. They are required by federal law to sell the ads to the candidates at the lowest unit rate offered over the course of a year. They are forced to bump a $500 Ford ad for a $75 political ad, that most people complain about anyway.

Let's assume for a moment that all campaigning was made illegal. Then what?

Political ads could potentially have some redeeming value if the originators of the ads were legally obligated to keep their promises as well as be liable for misdirections. Political advertisements that simply say what their target audiences want to hear instead of revealing working strategies are useless to all but the politicians.