As the people of the United States approach the mid-term election, we are bombarded by non-stop political ads that attack one candidate while pushing us to cast our votes for another. Millions of dollars are spent on negative and often non-substantive propaganda. Very few of them actually tell us about the values by which these candidates live. The worst ads are the ones that simply tell us to vote the party line. They are basically saying: there is no need to think for yourselves or measure the candidates against your values; just vote for your party’s candidates and you will be fine.
In this blog post, I propose a way to help people decide who they should vote for based on commonly owned values of all citizens of the United States. I admit this method is a little brainy, but voting is a very important decision and using our brain, in addition to our emotion, is not a bad idea.
In January, the newly elected senators and congressional representatives will make the following oath, “I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”
In order to make a sound decision with our votes, we should take a look at the preamble of the constitution.
Constitution of the United States
Adopted by convention of States, September 17, 1787; Ratification completed, June 21, 1788
PREAMBLE
We the People of the United States, in Order to
form a more perfect Union,
establish Justice,
insure domestic Tranquility,
provide the common Defense,
promote the general Welfare, and
secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,
do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
The Preamble consists of well-thought-out action verbs and themes - form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide the common Defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty. If you study these themes carefully, you will see how they work together and support each other to create a well-balanced approach to the governance of the country.
These are the criteria I would use to measure the qualification of any candidate running for offices in the United States. I have created a chart below to help voters to evaluate candidates running for office using these criteria or values. For each criterion, rate the candidate using the scale of 1 to 5: 1 (being awful at it), 5 (being brilliant at it). Circle the number that represents your evaluation of the candidate for each statement. Write in the box below evidence that supports your rating of this candidate. (If you don’t know, do some research on this candidate.) Add up the circled numbers; that will be the score you have for this candidate. Do one for each candidate. The one with the highest score is the one I would recommend for you to vote for on election day.
Eric H. F. Law
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