Editor, Times-Union: The election season is upon us now and the hijinks are in full swing.
I’m starting this letter with a complaint about people who steal political yard signs out of the yards of other private citizens whose candidates they choose to disagree with. A fellow at the Democrat headquarters on Winona Avenue here in Warsaw tells me that they have run out of Obama signs because as quick people come in to get them and put them out, others sneak around at night and steal them from their yards. This is illegal but more importantly it is childish. It is also indicative of the level of childishness our political process has lowered itself to.
Not that stealing signs is anything new, but it was both surprising and heartening to think that so many people wanted to put Obama signs in their yards that our Democrat headquarters couldn't keep up with demand. Point in case, as this was being explained another voting citizen walked in behind me also looking for Obama/Biden yard signs.
While there I also asked for Joe Donnelly signs and was discouraged that their were none of those to be had, but for a different reason entirely. Our district is considered a “lost cause” in terms of how much money should be spent by the Joe Donnelly for Senator campaign. Not that the people are a lost cause but because the money could be more effectively spent in other voter districts. That’s understandable, but the campaign managers need to understand there are still some of us who need the tools to voice opposition to the status quo here in our voting district, if for no other reason than to legitimize the democratic process.
It’s sad to think that campaigns are boiled down to who can spend the most money, most effectively sending out the most dumbed down message with the catchiest slogan. It is a bit ridiculous. This same mentality that politicians pander too helps to create an oversimplification of the issues in people’s minds that in turn serves only to cloud over the real reasons behind those issues. This allows for an environment where huge Super PAC donations serve to swing votes towards candidates who will support and pass laws that favor the wishes of these large donors.
Wishes and desires that have little to do with solving real problems but more to do with whatever it takes to put more money back into the pockets of those huge donors. For them it is an investment. We are NOT a lost cause. Don't allow the investors to control the elections, look a little deeper into the issues and do some thinking for yourselves. And as for the person or persons going around stealing the Obama signs ... Grow up.
