The thing that worries me is that there are too many people who seem to think that the government should take on more services where it really has no business (like $5000 Baby Bonds).

As long as we can agree that there is pork and unite against it when it’s really oinking then I have hope that we can find the right balance.

Obviously, I believe in a more robust mixed economy of a strong private market augmented by public works that contribute to the success of that market and reject Ezra Taft Benson and his disciples’ paranoia about “creeping socialism”. I see many of the services we receive from the government as good things, despite some inefficiencies because privatization generally ends up being less efficient due to problems of economy of scale.

But we as citizens must be vigilant to call it pork when it oinks. I’m glad Governor Palin is willing to do that.

“I know there are plenty of people who always want more from the government, but is that really the majority, or is it a squeaky minority that gets their way while the majority fails to pay attention?”

So how do we consistently elect people like Palin who will play deaf to the vocal minority in order to do what’s good for everyone?

More politicians need to ignore the squeaky wheels of society and focus on the silent majority that want government to do it’s job and stay out of everything else.

I have no doubt that voter apathy is a problem. However, I don’t think it is THE problem. The larger problem, in my opinion, is that too many Americans expect government to do for them that which they should be doing for themselves. If we would stop expecting our politicians to look after our wants and needs, they could stop worrying about trying to be everything to everybody, and focus on making and enforcing laws consistent with the constitution.

As it stands, too many voters will turn down good candidates for office because they won’t be yes men. So even good politicians turn into pork machines in order to keep an increasingly whiny public happy.

Regardless of the above answers – does anyone have any suggestions of how we can lessen the influence of consultants and lobbyists and return to days when we get more statesmen in office than career politicians? I really think it all boils down to getting the average voter more interested and involved in the election process.

I’ve often thought of the many Democratic legislators in swing districts who voted in 1993 to increase taxes in order to bring the deficit under control. One of them was jeered by Republican congressmen as they waived “bye-bye” to her as she cast her vote.

The Democrats lost the House and the Senate in 1994, but ultimately brought the Reagan/Bush deficit to an end and even gained an oh, so brief, budget surplus.

Politics in general has become dominated by politicos (political consultants) who are the political equivalent of marketing gurus. Their goal is to brand and position the candidate in such a way that gives them the best possible chance of election or re-election. The fact that they have prospered and succeeded shows the degree to which the public can so easily be influenced by them.

For myself, my primary concern right now is who gets nominated for president. If the top of a ticket is wrong no nominee for VP can make the whole ticket right. Besides, why deprive Alaska of a fantastic governor by putting her in an administration that was bound to perform poorly. I don’t mean to say that any Republican administration would perform poorly, only that we won’t know until we know who the nominee is.

If you’re interested, myself and some others are working to get Gov. Palin on the GOP ticket next year. The main site is palinforvp.blogspot.com, and we have a petition running at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/palinforvp.

Adam Brickley,
Founder, “Draft Sarah Palin for Vice President”
palinforvp.blogspot.com