I don’t know what’s going on in other states, but this election season in Georgia is getting pretty scary. Here’s what we’ve learned lately from television ads about our two candidates for governor:
Roy Barnes likes dead foster kids.
Roy Barnes
Nathan Deal is in favor of rapists.
Roy Barnes promotes child abuse and scorched earth policies (and that’s a loaded word in Sherman-loathing Georgia, honey).
Nathan "airbrushed" Deal.
Nathan Deal was named one of the 15 Most Corrupt in Congress and resigned because he was facing ethics charges for using his office for personal gain.
Really? Really??? (Well, actually, that last one about Deal is true.) But at a time when Georgia has just about the highest unemployment in the nation, a public education system that is ranked 48th out of 50, a higher education system in crisis, and a real estate market that’s tanking– is this what we need to know about our two choices for chief executive of the state? It’s completely irresponsible campaigning on both sides – and honestly, somebody needs to send both of these good old boys into Time Out.
What it's really all about.
Wouldn’t it be brilliant if all our candidates were forbidden to spend any more than a modest, set amount on advertising and thus forced to actually talk about their plans for governing and the issues at hand? Couldn’t that money be used to solve some of our problems instead of polluting our airwaves? But no, thanks to the stupefying Citizens United Supreme Court ruling last January, corporations, foreign contributors, unions, Big Oil, and billionaires like the creepy, ultraconservative Koch brothers can now spend an unlimited amount of money, secretly and undisclosed, on the kind of brain-dead, hysterically misleading political advertising we’ve been seeing. At last count, $80 million from outside interest groups has flooded in to buy our votes with the largest national campaign expenditures in history.
Yeah, I feel you.
“We carpet-bombed for two months in 82 races, now it’s sniper time,” says Rob Collins of American Action Network, a leading Republican election group. Well, I don’t know about you, but I feel exactly like I’m in somebody’s crosshairs, and it’s getting on my last nerve.
So today I’m sending my $100 (no secret money or foreign donations in What Gives, baby!) to the sober, nonpartisan League of Women Voters. Since 1920, this stellar organization has been doing what the media in this country isn’t – educating the public about the issues and where the candidates stand by holding forums, printing out Voter Guides and promoting Vote411.org – a brilliant online resource filled with issue and candidate information.
The good guys in every election since 1920, The League gets my vote.
The League of Women Voters is strictly nonpartisan and proudly political, working through 900 state and local Leagues to advocate policy and make democracy work for all citizens. What a refreshing concept!!
To join me in making a tiny little pittance of a protest against gross election excess, click here!
What Gives 
It’s really nothing new. This kind of campaigning has been going on for a couple of centuries. The only difference now is there’s no getting away from it. No wonder so many people have dropped out of the political process.
I actually think it IS something new… the influx of money in this election is really unprecedented, and because of Citizens United, now there’s no requirement to reveal where the money is coming from — that’s totally new. And dangerous, in my opinion.
Great post! I’ve been thinking the same thing, the ads are getting beyond ridiculous. (Although the funniest is by far Christine O’Donnell’s “I am not a witch”) It really doesn’t give you much confidence in Georgia’s politicians. Don’t you wish someone would run and just say, “I won’t waste my/your time or money with mud-slinging; here is what I stand for and what I will do.”
Amen Betty! I could not have said it better.
Well said. Vote for Betty!!!
Tina! you are so funny .. if only I hadn’t inhaled, I coulda been a contender!
actually, you are now doing the slow cool intake of it all…bravo!
I totally agree with you. The same thing is going on in my state, too. I’m so disgusted I’d like to write in “none of the above” for every single office.
Big vote for The League! Pennsylvania has no less vile political tricks this season. The only good thing about the tv ads is that it keeps the tv off. Thanks, Betty