Mid to late October is the time of year when the political ghouls come out and try to scare voters into supporting local, county and state candidates of one political party or another.
Some methods of attack commonly used by politicians include expensive media campaigns and telephone calls to residents urging them to vote along a particular party line, praising the virtues and morals of one candidate and spouting about the evils of the opposing candidate.
During the campaign season, voters may find themselves deluged with more political propaganda than they thought humanly possible, advertising candidates for local, county, state, and national office.
Residents should remember that, in their effort to learn as much as possible about the candidates for elected office, there is no substitute for personal experience.
Although watching local government in action is not high on everyone’s list of priorities, attending a meeting or two and watching the people who want to represent the community in action is advisable. In a place like Millstone, a candidates’ night where the GOP and Democratic candidates would have had an opportunity to hash out the issues in an impartial forum would have been a valuable tool for informing the voters.
A secondary method of spreading the word in support of a political candidate is through letters to the editor in local newspapers. Personal attacks, untruths, half-truths, words and beliefs taken out of context are often fought over on the letters-to-the-editor page during campaign season.
The letters-to-the-editor page is the least expensive way to reach a large audience, and those who know how to play the political game are aware of the page’s power.
It would be really great if, just once, politicians and their cronies would use the letters-to-the-editor page to deal with the issues relevant to the election, without tearing down their competitors.
It is up to the people in the community to stand up and refuse to accept the obvious political games played by candidates and force their leaders to work for the people, not trick those they are in office to serve.