Politics has always been messy. Votes have always been bought and still are - less with beer today and more with empty promises.
But aren't we seeing a new low? Not just in the politicians but in how "stupid" we are as voters?
Politicians - Identity. I think I am marvelous. I like people who are like me. But that does not make me a great candidate for high office. I am not pragmatic or patient enough. I show my cards too easily. I talk too much. I am also at 58, too old - in that I don't have the energy to be a CEO anymore. I did when I was younger but not any more.
So why would it matter that a candidate is like me and has my life? It is it in my interests to have a leader who is like me. It is surely in my interests to have a leader who can cope with what is happening in this complex world
Politicians - Policy. Who knows what events will confront the next President or Prime Minister. So the policy issues only matter in that they tell us how the potential leader will frame their actions when events do occur.
It is clear now that the philosophy of the "Market is all that there is" - that the use of direct use of force is how we keep secure - and that getting access to more oil is the way we use energy - that we don't need regulation - has brought us most of the trouble that we are living through right now. It would seem that any politician whose philosophy includes these precepts will be working against our interests.
So voting for a business as usual and dogmatic leader is the worst thing that we can do if we have our interests at heart.
Politicians - Character Can we ever know what another person is really like? I have been married for 33 years and there are parts of my wife that are still a mystery and vice versa. Who even knows themselves?
But we are all quite adept at recognizing people that we don't want in our lives. Bullies. Egomaniacs. People who are self absorbed. People who tell the baldest lies. People who are self righteous.
These are traits that once we have grown up a bit and see them more clearly we run a mile from.
We know that at a character level, that people like that are really dangerous.
So why are so many normally sensible people so attracted to people with these traits? Why are so many people enraptured by leaders who cannot have their true interests at heart? Why have politics become like American Idol - all emotion and no thought?
I think that the answer is fear.
Deep down millions of Canadians and Americans "know" that something terrible is on its way. Middle and working class know that they in particular are going to be in the eye of the hurricane. No Golden Parachutes for them.
Like Germans in 1931, they want to feel safe. Like Germans in 1931 they seek a Father and a Mother figure who will make it all go away.
They want simple answers even if they know that they are wrong.
2008 is a dangerous year. Like a drowning person, a large number of voters are grasping for security.
So if I was advising Senator Obama or Mr Dion, I would say this.
Help people feel safer with you rather than with them. Get specific as to why they are safer with you. Go beyond words - show why you are the safer choice. For if you don't....
