The Mind of Vatke
Thoughts, Musings and Advice by Andre Vatke

Politicians from all parties have become marketers - using marketing tactics to misdirect the public's attention and polarizing them on emotional issues that they have no intention of solving.

How can you stay sane?

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• Don't listen to campaign ads
• Check facts with sites like PolitiFact and FactCheck.org before repeating them... (some candidates have even misrepresented what these organizations have said so check for yourself)
• Know when to turn it off. The endless drip of 24 hour cable news can be a real downer.

And what issues matters the most this year? Here's my opinion...

• Our dependence on middle east oil (and fossil fuels in general). We spend over $700 BILLION a year importing oil. A large percentage of this goes directly to countries that originate the very people that want to destroy us. The Pickens plan may be a realistic way out of the mess we're in.

• Education. Studies show that the US is losing ground in education, as peers across the globe zoom by with bigger gains in student achievement and school graduations. Another big factor is that there is a huge discrepancy between the best public schools (ranking among the best in the world) and our worst (some on par with third world countries).

  Education is the key to not only preventing further class stratification, but it's also the key to new opportunities for the next generation and our ability to solve problems with new technologies.

  Money alone won't solve this problem. Politicians don't like to deal with this issue seriously because it's not a 4 year problem. It will take a generation or two to get on track here. A better educated public gives us all more opportunities.

• Campaign Finance Reform. Today's elections are marketed and financed by big corporations (for their own ends) and those who own them. Any politician serious about reform MUST address this issue and put real debate and political conversation back into hands of the public.