Who Is That Guy and Why Should I Care?

This is a funny time of year and it only comes along every so often. Strangers showing up at your door, promising you that they will speak on your behalf in the local community. Turn on the TV and news coverage is focused solely on budget proposals, millage updates, smiling political candidates and hilarious campaign ads. It is election season.

Many people choose not to follow politics or campaigns because they can't help but feel like they are being lied to or told what to do and how to do it. Promises are made and endeavors are planned, but many feel like they just don’t care because what politicians say cannot possibly affect them.

Changing topics for just a moment: There was a time that truth and the pursuit of the story in television news media mattered to society. Edward R. Murrow had a vision for a team of fantastic journalists and they reshaped the world with their war correspondence and news coverage. But something happened in the 90s–Turner broadcasting and the CNN News anchor. While the television news audience expected to receive true news as it happened, they were provided with talking heads that summarized the news for them. Pretty soon, the talking heads became the reason to watch the news and before long, the talking heads of the news media were debating politics and acting as representatives of society itself. Welcome to the 21st century!

Why is this relevant to election season and politics? We have, as an audience, slowly but surely left the political arena as participants and entered the world of stories and flashy media. By walking away from the truth in media and politics as participants, we have forgotten what is truly important to our local communities. We have forgotten that we have a voice as members of our cities and our state. We are the ones who give politicians the power to make a change in our community, not the talking heads on TV.

I am not so naïve as to think that the news media itself was the exclusive cause for a lack of interest in government and politics. (After all, I am participating in the media with a blog on a news website!) However, I think it is time to start questioning the source of the information we receive and take an active interest in better understanding the representatives we put into power and the laws that we vote to pass.

Just for perspective, in the last election in Wyandotte in May 2009, there were 3,668 voters who showed up at their polling locations in Wyandotte and participated in the election. That is only 18% of the Wyandotte voting population who were eligible and registered to vote at the time. This particular year was an election year to put into office our members of city council and a new mayor. For that reason, the percentage of participating voters was probably higher than it would normally be.

If we, as members of the Wyandotte community, want to see our local community be safe, clean and offer successful business and shopping opportunities in our community, then how can we not show up to vote at every opportunity provided to us? Is it because we prefer to hear it from a talking head on television? How is that insuring the future of Wyandotte? 

Maybe it is easier to just flip on the news and get the summary of how the elections and campaign went, but would you want to experience your life that way? I don’t know about you, but I like to be in charge of my own life and my daily agenda. I would much rather be an active participant then be told what happened in my life while I wasn’t participating. (Hmmm. Sounds like a good Total Recall script to me!)

The decisions being made in the upcoming primary election and following campaign will affect our entire community, state and nation. We have the opportunity to influence the results with our vote. Don’t just get the summary of the decisions being made by some guy or gal on TV. Use your vote to influence the results and be an active participant. It will make an impact.