Thank goodness the bitter campaigns are finally over

the candidates is over.

Thank goodness!

I heard a report on public radio the other day about a candidate that had never mentioned his opponent in his television commercials. On the other hand his opponent did nothing but make charges against him in hers. The one with the positive approach was 16 points ahead.

Good for him.

I’ve had enough of the lying, slander and the low road most every candidate takes on television. It seems that this kind of campaigning is losing its effect. Before we have another presidential election let’s hope that some new rules can be established.

For one, the campaign is too long. I felt sorry for the candidates for having to spend month after month traveling from state to state. I’m almost as old as Sen. McCain and I don’t think I could hold up that long with the demands that he has had. There needs to be a limit on how much money one can spend on a campaign. Look at the good that could have been done with the millions the candidates spent on this campaign. No more public financing. Let’s let our government allot enough for each candidate and that’s it.

Also, we need to have a national primary election. I’m fed up with Iowa getting rich from TV and letting 200,000 people decide who will be the candidates. By the time the primary was held in Kentucky our only choice was who the others had picked. And that electoral college thing. It has got to go. Let’s face it Kentuckians, our votes here mean very little. If only the popular votes were used then everybody’s vote would be equal.

As it is the attention has been focused in Ohio, Florida, and a few other states that matter because of the electoral college. We don’t count. Even though I didn’t have to stand in line to vote today, I still think Kentucky should have early, no-excuse voting.

It may not be necessary to open the voting 15 days early, but by having early voting on a Saturday would eliminate some problems for workers.

And those new computerized voting machines, I don’t trust them. Having read about them and watching the HBO documentary, Hacking Democracy”, I am convinced that some machines can be rigged. However, I do not think that has or is happening locally.

With the old machines we had totals from the courthouse much sooner than we have them with the electronic ones. This doesn’t stand to reason. I am pessimistic that anything I have mentioned will actually happen before the next election.

Excluding local elections those on the state and national scene have gotten out of control. Most people agree something should be done about it.

And then there are those yard signs. It would be okay if they were only in yards. However, a conglomeration of them appears in public places. I know how the candidates feel. I had them when I ran for office. You are afraid if you don’t join the crowd you may be left out at the voting booth. Not really. I doubt that the signs do much to gain your support. I’ve seen candidates splurge on signs and billboards and still get very few votes.

There is some kind of magic out there, other than party affiliation, that causes people to vote the way they do. I wish I knew, I’d make a fortune.