| | |  Editorials | Opinions | July 2008 
Deceptions of Elections
 Ivan Simic - PVNN
 |  | As long as democracy continues to be the ruling mechanism... the system will continue to work. Plans and ideas will continue to be executed, no matter who is in charge. |  | | | |
Elections, decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or party to hold formal office. This is the usual mechanism by which modern democracy fills offices in the legislature, sometimes in the executive and judiciary, and for regional and local government.
During election campaigns, everybody talks about politicians or rather, candidates, however there are also some very interesting participants in elections which are not so much talked about; they are called qualified voters/electors.
Candidates are the most interesting in the time of elections; they will tell us anything that will likely lead them to great victory. They will lie, deceive, and guarantee the impossible, sing and dance, cry and laugh, and all that in order to win. In that campaign, they will give us so many promises, that if we ask them just a few hours later about them, they will not remember them, and will give us new ones in order to deceive us further. Later, if they are elected for formal office, then they will start giving us excuses for the lost promises in order to maintain political power.
It is evident that while campaigning, candidates will tell us things we like to hear and agree with just to make us think they are good, smart, dedicated, and considered, amongst other things. However, almost everything they say was written and prepared in advance for that occasion by the campaign staff in order to attract more voters. In most cases, especially in democratic systems, candidates heavily rely on finance from private donors, selected individuals, groups or industry. If elected, they have an obligation to reimburse supporters for their contributions by protecting and supporting their businesses, no matter what that business might be.
We all know what candidates do, but what about voters?
Voters are a group of people gathered around to make some decision or express their opinion often in discussions, debates and election campaigns. Voters support their favourite candidates, they go to rallies and listen what their favourite candidates have to say, they analyze them, agree or disagree with them, and in the end, they make the final decision on Election Day. However, on Election Day, not all of the supporters vote for their desired candidate, which they supported throughout the year, not all voters are faithful to their candidate.
To make things more clear, let's use the 2008 United States Presidential Elections as an example: candidates Barack Obama and John McCain, and qualified voters/electors.
It appears that Americans are fascinated with Democratic candidate Barack Obama, possibly more so than with any other Presidential candidate in US history; many talk about him, adore him, and cheer for him.
On the other side, Republican candidate John McCain was selected in the US primaries a long time before Obama, it was clear that he was the chosen one on this side, but it looks like people are not so hot for him as they are for Obama.
According to these indicators, we may feel that Barack Obama will become the next President of the United States, but will he?
The chances of Barack Obama becoming the next President may not be as good as they look. Yes, people are hot for him, but electors are not to be trusted. Electors like something new, new radical changes, new and different politician, new ideas, and fresh promises, among others. However, it does not necessary mean they will vote for the same. For Obama it would be better if he had less attention, his chances to win would be better.
On Election Day many people change their minds and do the opposite of what they were saying, promising, cheering and longing for throughout the election campaign. Voters are just regular people, and on Election Day they realize the show is over and start thinking in different directions.
Voters are very interesting; they often say one thing and do other. It is obvious that voters complain and criticize about certain politicians day by day and in the end, vote for them. It appears that the more mistakes and scandals a politician makes and the less he does for the nation, the bigger the chances are that voters will vote for him, especially for the second time. As an example, take a look at George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Jacques Chirac and Silvio Berlusconi, among others.
In the end, democracy is not like a communist regime; in democracy it may not really be as important which politician or candidate comes to power. As long as democracy continues to be the ruling mechanism, as long as they do not take extra power, the system will continue to work. Plans and ideas will continue to be executed, no matter who is in charge.
The only thing that is changing is the interests of the financiers or ruling elite who financed the elected candidate. If financiers are from weapons industry, then there will be new wars. We may prefer financiers from the toy industry, with toys for everyone.
Ivan Simic writes from Belgrade, Serbia |
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