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Guest Columnists : Equal Access Does Not Guarantee Equal Outcome - Wendy McElroy, FOX News What is the Deal? Do you need to buy a birthday, anniversary or holiday gift? Visit the Galleria! November 10, 2002 What is the deal with Election Day? By Jan A. Larson What is the deal with Election Day? Another election day has come and gone. The television airwaves will return to beer and AOL commercials rather than political ads. Personally, I enjoy political ads, particularly the negative ads, much better than an ad that extols the virtues of a particular candidate. There seems to be no end to the creativity of the creators of negative advertising. I love the candid photos of the targeted candidate in an unflattering pose or with a contorted facial expression. Paraphrased newspaper articles and commentary are always the source of great amusement for me. Every election will produce scenarios such as:
The few deep-pocketed candidates around the country will flood the airwaves with their message and/or mug. Can you really trust a candidate that spends millions on getting elected to suddenly acquire some fiscal responsibility? When it is all said and done, who won? We know that Smith or Jones “won” the election, but did “we the people” win? With all the money spent on convincing the electorate that this candidate or that is better than the other, it seems that we really don’t know much of anything about the winner or the loser. No wonder there is apathy come election time. The messages are all the same and after hearing them all, we really don’t know anything about the candidates. To top it off, the same candidates that are determined to change the status quo if they are elected become the targets of the pro-change candidates in the next election. Of course we could change the way we choose our leaders. We could use the system that seems to work so well in Iraq. Everyone votes and they all vote for the same candidate. On second thought, I think I’ll stick with our system, negative ads, plastic politicians and all. -- Send feedback to the author. The "What is the Deal?"column will appear from time to time on the Pie of Knowledge website. Guest submissions are welcome and encouraged. To submit an article to "What is the Deal?" click here. To subscribe to the "What is the Deal?" mailing list and receive early notification when a new column is available, click here. The Pie of Knowledge will never, ever divulge email addresses to any third party for any reason unless so ordered by a court of law. Contributions to the Pie of Knowledge are greatly appreciated. 
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