elections

Can someone explain where this "I approve this message" came from?  I've thought all this before but after the latest John McCain commercial where it's his face, his voice I have to give into the madness and ask why?

How in blue blazes does this make any sense?  If you see an ad for a Candidate and it's not them talking I could maybe see the point of "I approve this message".  But when you have the face of the candidate staring at you while speaking, the words match the way his lips are moving it's bizarre. To say "I approve this message" when you can cleary see and hear what is coming out of his mouth?  Am I the only one that finds this.....ummm....dumb?

The relationship between leadership and character is very close.  A leader without character is not a leader at all.  As I’ve sat back and watched the school board here in Clay County, I can’t help but wonder when a leader is going to emerge.  Abraham Lincoln said, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”

As soon as the present board members ascended to office, they forgot why they were put there.  They are more consumed with the power they’ve been trusted with than with the needs of their constituency.  It is time for change on the Clay County School Board.  It is time for parents, teachers and students alike to start having their voices heard.  We owe it to ourselves and to the future of Clay County to hold our elected representatives accountable.

Does Money Make It Right? By OneMann - Wed, 08/08/2007 - 9:04pmAnother blogger has twice mentioned the need to raise big money in order to attain political viability, either as a candidate for office or to support or oppose possible amendments to the Clay County Charter.  The writer added that not believing so meant one was not living in the real world. In the past few years there have been quite a few changes in local government, from those elected officials who retired or were otherwise forced out of office to a Charter addition mandating a new ethics ordinance to, next year, adding two new members to the County Commission.My question is this:  Has the American electoral system been reduced to merely who raises the most money and, if so, what does that say about local politics? 

Oneman, to answer your Question's;Submitted by winn1955 on Thu, 08/09/2007 - 1:18pm.Oneman, to answer your Question's; Has the American electoral system been reduced to merely who raises the most money, and if so, what does that say about local politics”? The answer to the first part of your Question is yes. The political arena has been reduced to who has the most in their war chest, and it is truly unfortunate to have too depend on the dollar to win an election. Baxley hit the nail on the head when he said name recognition, but he did not mention the second reason. An election is about two items, as Baxley stated; name recognition, and Two, being able to express your point of view. And in order to achieve those goals; one must be able to put those two items in front of the people. And how do we do that? We gather as many donations as possible, build a war chest, use our own money, and advertise, advertise, advertise.  The second part of your question, “and if so, what does that say about local politics”? That’s an easy one. It say’s that the politician with the biggest war chest will most likely win the election, sad but true. And as Baxley states; “there’s the rub”.  Baxley you say, “It seems almost un-American in some ways, but maybe it is oh-so-American.  I hate it.  I wish there were some other way, but how?  Here is my opinion on how too change it. With today’s technology there is absolutely no reason that anyone running for any office should have to pay to make the two points that I stated above. An election benefits any and every American involved in that particular election, whether national, or local. So ask yourselves; what is a politician? The answer; they are a public servants.  Yes that is right; they serve you and me. So! Here is what we do, send a bill to the legislators that would require all elections to be broadcast as a public service announcement. Give the politician an equal X amount of time to make the two points mentioned above. For a more in-depth announcement on the positions, and views send the people too a web page. All the media outlets should be involved. If need be give the media outlets and incentive in the form of a tax break. The more time given to the election the bigger the tax break for that media outlet. Sounds to simple, it may be, but it would work! It would place anyone that wanted to run for office on an even playing field. If adopted even a poor man like me could run for office.  

No, I did not know the Keystone election results before the polls closed. But you would think so, if you noted the time of 9 am posted on my previous blog. I noticed the mistake the moment I hit the "submit" button. Help, come back! I figured there might be some way to edit my mistake, but no such luck. I had a difficult time posting the blog to begin with, as I thought I could just "paste" the neat, orderly file I had done in a word document. Again, no such luck. So it took me forever to straighten that out. Then I noticed in the "preview" section that the date and time were listed as 12/31/69 - 7 pm.

Keystone Heights Election Results - March 6, 2007 - 9:15 a.m.

Seat 1 Michelle Curtis 135 Lyndel Hale 146  Seat 3 LaDonna Hart 137 Don Johnson 142 Amendment No. 1 - Interference with employees is malfeasance Yes 186 No  87 Amendment No. 2 - Expand term in office to three years Yes 157 No 122 Amendment No. 3 - 3 or more votes required to adopt measures Yes 258 No 18 Amendment No. 4 - Charter Review Committee every 4 years Yes 229 No 43 Amendment No. 5 - Mayor elected by council from its members Yes 71 No 209 Amendment No. 6 - Majority vote to remove Airpark members Yes 201 No 71 Amendment No. 7 - Create City Manager position Yes 147 No 129  Amendment No. 8 - Limit terms to 4 consecutive terms for any seat Yes 223 No 53 Amendment No. 9 - 6 month residency to run for elected office Yes 262 No 18