Message Counted, Not the Money

Let us give credit where credit is due. Since last night's elections, I have been listening to pundits in the media talking in terms of "how much money" has been thrown at the campaign, as if the only reason the Democrats won local races, State Assembly seats, and the Governor's Office is because fundraising and political advertising hit all time highs. Yes, money helps get the message out, but do not underestimate the electorate. President Bush's candidate for Virginia Governor was soundly defeated, despite the President's last minute visit to that Commonwealth, or perhaps because of it. Arnold Schwartzeneger's ballot measures were trounced, and his reelection hopes for next year look very much in doubt. This is a trend. We no longer focus our eyesight in a post 911 haze. People are concerned about the issues. We are bogged down in a war in Iraq, sold to us on faulty and false intelligence, while the insurgency grows, with no exit strategy in sight. We reject the Republican efforts to tie Saddam Hussein to Osama Bin Laden and 911. Government officials we trusted to protect us left us helpless in the wake of real homeland disasters like Hurricane Katrina, while we pour our resources into the Iraqi money pit. The White House is ethically challenged, with the Vice President's top aide under indictment and Karl Rove under continuing criminal investigation in the CIA leak case. Our country was embarrassed by the President's summit failure in Latin America. Our public schools and children continue to suffer in the underfunded No Child Left Behind law while teachers must abandon innovative techniques in place of "teaching to the test." This Administration has chased away moderates from its own party. Supreme Court nominees must pass a litmus test of the right-wing contingent before the President makes his choice. While our national deficit grows, Republicans pursue tax breaks for the very wealthy but cut Medicaid for the working poor. A disgracefully large segment of our populace has no healthcare coverage at all. On local and State levels, property taxes are at a critical level and too many folks are unemployed or underemployed. I could go on an on, but the point is clear. There are real issues here, and our citizens gave them due weight when casting their votes. That is why candidates like Whelan, Tyner, Van Drew, and Albano made such good showings at the polls, not because they had money to burn. Let us give credit where credit is due. Since last night's elections, I have been listening to pundits in the media talking in terms of "how much money" has been thrown at the campaign, as if the only reason the Democrats won local races, State Assembly seats, and the Governor's Office is because fundraising and political advertising hit all time highs. Yes, money helps get the message out, but do not underestimate the electorate. President Bush's candidate for Virginia Governor was soundly defeated, despite the President's last minute visit to that Commonwealth, or perhaps because of it. Arnold Schwartzeneger's ballot measures were trounced, and his reelection hopes for next year look very much in doubt. This is a trend. We no longer focus our eyesight in a post 911 haze. People are concerned about the issues. We are bogged down in a war in Iraq, sold to us on faulty and false intelligence, while the insurgency grows, with no exit strategy in sight. We reject the Republican efforts to tie Saddam Hussein to Osama Bin Laden and 911. Government officials we trusted to protect us left us helpless in the wake of real homeland disasters like Hurricane Katrina, while we pour our resources into the Iraqi money pit. The White House is ethically challenged, with the Vice President's top aide under indictment and Karl Rove under continuing criminal investigation in the CIA leak case. Our country was embarrassed by the President's summit failure in Latin America. Our public schools and children continue to suffer in the underfunded No Child Left Behind law while teachers must abandon innovative techniques in place of "teaching to the test." This Administration has chased away moderates from its own party. Supreme Court nominees must pass a litmus test of the right-wing contingent before the President makes his choice. While our national deficit grows, Republicans pursue tax breaks for the very wealthy but cut Medicaid for the working poor. A disgracefully large segment of our populace has no healthcare coverage at all. On local and State levels, property taxes are at a critical level and too many folks are unemployed or underemployed. I could go on an on, but the point is clear. There are real issues here, and our citizens gave them due weight when casting their votes. That is why candidates like Whelan, Tyner, Van Drew, and Albano made such good showings at the polls, not because they had money to burn.

JANET L. FAYTER

Egg Harbor Township

Letter published in Press of Atlantic City, November 10, 2005

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/opinion/letters/story/5687047p-5704600c.html