THE POWER OF WORDS

THE POWER OF WORDS



A child on the verge of tears from a verbal assault is heard saying “Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me”. Brave person.
In fact, names do hurt, as immigrant families have experienced over the years. It should therefore be no surprise that political party activists find ---- shall we say ---- unique descriptions for Independent candidates.
Independent voters --- or swing voters as party pundits call them --- have been the crucial and deciding factor in modern times, determining who is elected. This has been largely due to the scarcity of Independent candidates, hampered by the escalating cost of election campaigns.
The Internet is now changing that political atmosphere in America. Independent voters can now support candidates who are free of party affiliation through contributions on-line. Senator Lieberman's re-election in 2006 as an Independent is further evidence of the strength in numbers of voters who are not committed to a political party.
What we don't know ---- yet ---- is the voting potential of that half of the American electorate who, in the past, have sat on their hands on election day. Naturally, those activists in the two major parties look upon Independent candidates with disdain. They know that in order for their candidate to be elected requires support from “swing voters”.
The American electorate, however, has consistently issued a call for bipartisanship which has fallen upon deaf ears. Now it's time to press forward the frontiers of representative government in America. Sending a strong message to the two major parties by electing Independent legislators is an unmistakable wake-up call from the voters for the reintroduction of honest debate. Partisan battles for gaining ascendancy at the cost of the national interest is no longer a political luxury in this day of weblogs and campaign funding via cyberspace.
In the words of our Constitution, “We, the people” are the constituency which Independents pledge to serve and not the interests of a political party. Our nation can no longer stand as a “House divided”in this day of a global economy.