We Need a Reboot

What I would like to see change about elections and politicians running:

•  Stop with the rallies where the candidate gets to stand and talk at the crowd. Instead, do more Q & A sessions. 

Have the candidates (from both parties) sit down to talk about specifics. In a session about the economy, invite economists from across the political spectrum to ask the questions and moderate the session. When discussing civil rights, invite moderators with experience in civil rights law and activism. Invite qualified medical doctors and other healthcare professionals in for discussions on that spectrum.

The whole point of these directed and focused sessions would be to hold every candidate accountable for being clear and knowledgeable about the issues and for actually having a plan.

• Have public news stations do nightly takes on each currently hot issue. Have journalists from across the political spectrum represented. Highlight currently relevant topics that the candidates are featuring in their platforms. Invite in experts in whatever field of topic and have civil discussions that are informative, truthful, and useful to viewers. 

This will be an alternative to the news put out based on political bias. If at no other time than during the election cycles, we need an alternative to the liberal (MSNBC-type) and conservative (FoxNews-type) noise that outshouts common, clear, and understandable information about the candidates and parties and their plans for the citizens.

• Start doing more educational outreach. When candidates are talking about healthcare reform, put out unbiased information about the basics. There is no excuse that there were people not understanding that Obamacare is the ACA. There is no excuse, with all the news being broadcast around the clock, that some of us didn't understand how tariffs affect the consumer.

We can't backtrack and re-educate multiple generations of citizens in civic, history, and government studies. We can (at least during election cycles) clarify what candidates are saying and proposing.

Now, all of those are things I am suggesting for politicians, parties, and news providers. As for citizens, we need to start holding ourselves accountable for being familiar (or getting familiar) with current issues. (And, by the way, as I point fingers, one is pointing right back at me!)

• We (citizens) need to stop getting our news from biased sources. We know for a fact that we will hear one version of a talking point on one channel while another channel is going in the opposite direction with their opinions.
• We need to stop letting news celebrities/news personalities, podcasters, influencers, etc; direct our opinions. Those people don't live your life, they don't live like "regular" folk, and they don't understand the day to day concerns of anyone not in their orbit. If I don't let my neighbor influence my important decisions, why would I let some of those other people do so. Remember how your parents would ask if you would ~insert activity here~ just because all your friends did?
• We need to start asking more questions and listening to responses from more than one source. Voting is not like religion. I can follow more than one news source even though I follow only one God.
• We need to start thinking more about our day to day life before we start choosing sides in a political forum. When that candidate said what they would do for us as far as the economy, jobs, infrastructure, etc., we need to be able to access how well those promises stood up. 
• Last of all, we need to stop being so selfish. If I don't have problems with housing costs - or jobs, or healthcare or whatever it is - that doesn't mean I should not be concerned for my fellow citizens.

I have come to the conclusion that we cannot count on our politicians to get it together until we push for that. So let's start pushing. Let's start being Americans - not Democrat, Liberal, Republican, MAGA, and so on. We all have to breathe clean air, have good food and water, and live. There are no dividing lines when it comes to just living our lives.

Peace

--Free

P.S: Forgive me for any grammatical errors or lack of clarification. I have an illness that affects my cognition at times. However, I am sure most people can understand what I have said.