Political Puffery

I'm not sure why, but I'm interested in two election results that are nowhere near my current place of residence. In fact, I could care less what happens in local races because one of my primary goals is to get the hell out of dodge sooner rather than later.

Anyway, I've been keeping track of senate races in Massachusetts and Missouri. Perhaps because both exhibit cases of extreme right-wing nuttery, such as Todd Akin's inflammatory remarks about women and rape among others, and Scott Brown's focus on his opponent Elizabeth Warren's claims of Native American heritage rather than the issues at hand. My first instinct is to think Akin feels threatened by women, thereby having the need to belittle them as a whole, and that Brown has no specific answers ready to serious questions.

Maybe the most striking theme about right-wing stump speeches is consistent emphasis on the national debt. For the average person, the main area of concern is providing for their own families first. Worrying and casting blame over the debt is fair game, but it hardly ranks as a priority in the daily lives of people just trying to survive. They want answers and results now, not promises that may or may not come to fruition many years hence.

To be honest, politicians from both sides try to use distraction tactics but it's just not working anymore. Their assumption that the average American voter is too dumb to grasp various nuances will hopefully come back to bite them when Election Day dawns. There are those who seize on any excuse to hate or vilify the other side, but rational folk see the political puffery for what it is.