What do you look for in an elected official?

1. 70

   buckleupdorothyposted 12 years ago

   What do you look for in an elected official?
   
   How do you choose between people running for public office? In a perfect world, what would your ideal elected official be like?

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2. 0

   Hubert Williamsposted 12 years ago

   I used to look for someone honest, then I grew up. The first president I voted for was Nixon. I didn't vote again for years. The I decided that a politician is a politician. Now I vote for who I think will try to keep us a free nation and not bankrupt us inthe process. Mitt Romney is that choice this year. Get ready ready for some feedback cause I done already stirred up the septic tank with that remark.

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3. 74

   pagesvoiceposted 12 years ago

   I look for a candidate who is for the masses and not the rich and corporations. I want someone who will fight for the average citizen and one who will protect our food, natural resources, healthcare and promote equality and be accepting of others who don't necessarily fit the "norm."

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4. 0

   Larry Wallposted 12 years ago

   Honesty and experience are always some traits to look for in an elected official. However, l look more for reasonableness.
   
   Candidates who say that they are going to cut the price of gasoline to $2.50 the day they take the oath of office, who will cut spending by 25 percent in the first month, will get Congress to come up with funding for the new highway before the end of the year, etc., etc. do not usually get my vote, unless they are the lesser of many evils.
   
   We once had a choice in Louisiana in our governor's race to vote for Edwin Edwards, who had served three previous terms or David Duke, a former KKK leader. Gov. Edwards has always had a cloud hanging over him and was eventually convicted and served his full term.
   
   However in the Edwards vs. Duke election, the editorial of the local newspaper express despair over the choices and concluded that it was best to vote for the crook, referring to Edwards.
   
   Sometimes you can have standards for public officials but none of the candidates meet those standards. In those cases you have to vote for the one who has come closest to those standards and occasionally you have to actually vote against someone, just to make sure he or she does not get elected. I have been faced with that dilemma several times.

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5. 59

   ackman1465posted 12 years ago

   I'd like to find - then vote for - a candidate who exhibited a little common sense... who could point to his own life (his past) as a representation of what we voters could expect of him....  AND believe that he was gutsy enough to do what is right for the most of the people the most of the time, instead of accomodating his party's claim to his doings..... even if they were at crossed-purposes....
   
   IF we'd had a few of these in the past.... and, if they had guts enough to stand up and say, "Cripes, what the heck are we doing.... spending  money we don't have... going to wars that make no sense.... supporting countries/regimes who have told us openly that they hate us and look to destroy us...... why don't we just keep our money home and make this country even better??????"
   
   THAT is the candidate that I want to see and vote for.....

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