COMMENTARY | Jon Huntsman called it quits, according to The Associated Press, and the last hope for a highly qualified, solution oriented, public servant to represent the Republican Party in November is gone. We have no one to blame but ourselves.
The latest Gallup polls show only 13 percent of Americans polled approve of "the way Congress is handling its job." The president's approval rating hovers in the mid-40s. Again and again, we say we have no confidence in the people holding office in Washington -- in their honesty or their ability to do their jobs. Yet how quickly we forget -- we're the ones who hired them, and we have the ability to fire them.
We're frustrated by the inability of our elected officials to work together, to put forth legislation that can win a majority vote, but we back extreme figures like Rick Santorum and Rick Perry and let the one man who has shown he can work cooperatively with conservatives and liberals for the sake of the public good go home.
If we elect people who promise not to compromise, no matter what, we're ensuring a stalemate in Washington. If we turn a blind eye to the fact we share this country with others whose beliefs differ from our own, and that they have the same right to vote that we do, we can become a cog in the machine, but we'll never get it moving in the direction we want it to go.
If we elect a president based on the frequency and vehemence of his TV ads, the tie he wears (as dictated by a pricy PR specialist) or his smooth rhetoric, we shouldn't be surprised if he turns out to be shallow, unqualified and self serving.
Ultimately, folks, we get what we choose, and we need to take a little time to look deeper at the candidates before we cast that precious vote. If we vote based on the amount of advertising dollars a candidate spends, we are choosing to let our votes be bought by people who probably don't have our best interests at heart. If we want cooperation in Washington, we can't vote for close minded extremists, or sit at home while their followers get them elected.
If this country is "of the people, but the people and for the people," we only have to look in the mirror to figure out how it got into this mess. But we can choose to change it.
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