Politics and political campaigns are beautiful things. For a few months now, I have been bombarded by Linda McMahon and Richard Blumenthal’s faces as they praise themselves and smear each other in an effort to glean support from Connecticut voters. I’m all for voting, and I think it’s a freedom that every citizen of the U.S. should exercise when the time comes. That’s why I have a problem with these midterm elections. Little old me is from New Jersey, a state that didn’t have any elections this November. Therefore, other than my personal feelings on various candidates, and an interest in the overall expectations and results of the various races, for the sake of this editorial, I really don’t care. Talk to me on November 3.

I can’t help but be a little curious about how effective some of the various commercials I’ve seen have been. Do people really believe anything that comes out of these politicians’ mouths? I don’t mean to say that anyone is flat out lying, but I think it’s safe to say that the truth is stretched pretty frequently.

 It feels good to know that I won’t be pestered by phone calls, television and radio commercials, and how could I forget the billboards lining various highways. On top of all the different mediums used to convey this information, the sheer frequency of the ads is obscene. Let me watch television for five minutes without having to see five commercials for candidate A and seven for candidate B attacking everything A says.

I really believe that there must be a better way to get voters’ attention about any crucial issues when an election rolls around. Usually the campaigning I see makes me not want to vote for anyone at all because in the end, all the candidates seem like jerks that are going to drive the town/city/state/country into oblivion. Oh yeah, and they might steal candy from babies too. I know that it’s too much to ask for a completely open and honest politician, but it really shouldn’t be that way. Every time an election nears, almost everyone I talk to expresses their dissatisfaction with the candidates, and follows up by saying something along the lines of “I should just run everything.” Politicians spend their lifetimes building their name and reputation up so that voters have faith in them, yet their efforts rarely succeed completely, a fact made apparent by the lack of faith we have in many of our government officials.

Regardless of your political views, I hope that everyone voted if their state was one that held elections. Additionally, if you are politically inclined and would like to write a recap of the results of the elections for the November 10th issue of The Charger Bulletin, don’t hesitate to contact me. For that matter, we can never have too many staff members, so if you are at all interested in helping out with the paper, don’t hesitate to contact me at [email protected].