Now that the presidential election is over and done with, I've got a few things that I'd like to get off my chest. In particular; William Balfour, and Joe The Plumber, and political advertising.
In the world as I see it, these issues have taken up way too much media time over the past few weeks. They've become my greatest pet peeves, and if anyone is listening, then maybe we can correct a few things before next election or high profile disaster.
Here is a guy who gained worldwide celebrity for doing nothing more than being a convicted felon who just happened to married to Jennifer Hudson's sister, Julia. Now, he's being implicated in the brutal murders of talented Ms. Hudson's mother, brother, and nephew, and people are clinging to him as if he's a superstar.
His mother has been on several nationally televised news programs to tell anyone who's willing to believe her that William Balfour is innocent. And now, past and present girlfriends are crawling out of the woodworks to express everything from "I can't believe he'd do such a thing", to "He confessed to me that he was involved in the mother and brother's deaths, but not the death of the child".
To top things off, the Illinois Departmant of Corrections had to have a parole hearing to determine Balfour's parole status as a violator, even after he was caught with crack cocaine earlier this past summer.
I'm all for the legal "due process", but William Balfour admitted to police that he was in the home on the morning of the murders. Give this guy his day in court, but let's not waste any more precious media time turning this guy into a martyr.
Has anybody even seen this guy since the election? Samuel Wurzelbacher, better known as "Joe The Plumber" gained celebrity and national media attention after the last debate between Barack Obama and John McCain.
His claim to fame was in asking Sen. Obama a ridiculous question about his proposed tax cuts while the presidential candidate was campaigning in Ohio. His question insinuated that he would be effected by an increased tax burden for earning over $250,000 yearly.
In reality, this guy earns no where close to that amount, and still owes the state of Ohio for taxes on income earned under the Bush administration. Why didn't he pose the question to his state legislature? And... He's not even a licensed plumber!
To make matters worse, the guy barnstormed around the country with the republican candidates as if he was the symbol of the average American. He even felt obliged to comment on the state of foreign affairs, an issue on which he said Barrac Obama was unqualified.
Well, I've got news for you, Joe. The average American pays his or her taxes, regardless of who's in office and despite whether they supported them or not. Maybe this was all just an opportunity for some media coverage to get his country music career rolling. He did hire a public relations firm after all.
Who in America din't let out a sigh of relief when they woke up on Nov. 5th and was not bombarded with a barrage political ads? I'm sure even the candidates were happy not to see them anymore.
Believe me, I understand the necessity of reaching as many people as possible during a political campaign. But, how many people make up their minds on a candidate by a 60 second commercial spot?
As I see it, the biggest problem this year was not only the number of ads being run, but also in the number of negative ads.
I would personally rather hear a candidate give me reasons to vote for him or her, than to tell me why I shouldn't vote for their opponent. I guess I subscribe to the school of thought that when someone spends too much time tattling on someone else, then they themselves are hiding something.
My suggestion here would be to spend less time talking about your opponent in your political advertising, and more time convincing me why I should vote for you. Also, spend a little less money advertising on the Saturday morning cartoons. Few of the viewers of those programs fall into voting demographics.
