I visited Interlachen, FL several miles west of Palatka, FL in Putnam Co. While people were friendly to me, I sensed despair, which I attribute to a poor economy and the lack of work in town.
I met one man who has been out of work for over a year. He and I spoke for about an hour. He felt that most politicians had lost touch with people like him. Others in town seemed to have the same feeling. I think it boils down to a buy vs. build decision. As I see it, politicians buy a campaign machine at the expense of building a grassroots organization comprised of volunteers.
While most politicians probably prefer to utilize a grassroots approach, they revert to buying a campaign machine because of two main challenges, which are:
1. Human nature; people do not work for free unless there is something in it for them; and
2. Building an effective grassroots campaign is hard and time consuming. Most politicians do not have the skill set (i.e. selling the intangible, ideas to get people motivated to volunteer) and the time to go door-to-door to jump start the process.
Therefore, politicians end up pursuing those with dollars (typically special interest) at the expense of ignoring a sizable amount of the voter base until they no longer can, which is around election time. However, I think people are getting frustrated with their elected officials and are more willing to volunteer.
Just think if more people got involved with campaigns by taking an hour or two out of the month to spread the word about candidates, then candidates may begin to shift their focus. In doing so, politicians will become more accountable to their true constituents (i.e. voter base), which in theory should lead to better legislation.
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