Voters: Give Us Smaller Government
Written By: Bojidar Marinov | Posted: Monday, January 9th, 2012
It is in the nature of American political system that election time is when all the concerns and the fears of the public come to focus. And no wonder. Politicians are trying to get elected, and they are trying to understand the issues that bother the American public so that they can talk to these issues and promise - most of the time only promise, with no intentions to follow up on it - what the voters want. Some politicians promised and really meant it, like Ronald Reagan who knew that Americans were concerned about big government and socialism at home. He promised more liberty and meant it. (Whether he did all that had to be done is another matter.) Bill Clinton knew that Americans were concerned about the economy and won the elections with the simple phrase, "It's the economy, stupid"; of course, he didn't mean it but we don't expect Democrat to mean what they say anyway. George W. Bush knew that in 1999 Americans were concerned about the many wars Clinton - like every other liberal President we have had so far - had started, and promised to bring the troops home and stop the practice of nation-building and policing the world. Whether he meant it or not is a different matter, we can judge from what happened. Either way, these politicians listened to what the voters wanted, and promised it. And won elections.
It's election time again, and politicians and their pet political pundits are at it again, working to address the issues that they believe the voters are concerned about. This time, apparently, the issue that the politicians picked to to be most vital concern for the voters, is "national security." National security, of course, means several things: terrorist threats, Iran and its nuclear program, Islam. These topics get the most time in the talks of political pundits, they get the most time in political debates, the most space in newspapers, etc.
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