Promote Good People over Insiders

The past 10 years we have seen the rise of candidates that just have bad polices records and very questionable past. Now, I like many have made a bad comment online and regret some. This is beyond that. The fact that the two dominant republican parties in the US are willing to promote people with questionable pasts over good candidates is something that should end quickly.

But lets take a step back.

Politics is dirty. As social media has taken hold and then you add in AI people can come up with fake content and make it spread rapidly. This problem can take a promising candidate and send them into obscurity pretty quickly. But I’m not talking about that. What I’m referring to is candidates with violent pasts of assaults and sexual assaults, fraud of the US government in connection with Covid-19 relief, bribery and more.

There are so many qualified good people in both parties that want to do right by their community and serve politically. The system on both sides is setup to push a narrative rather than promote these good people. What you’re left with is this churn of loss elections because voters can see through it now.

How do we fix it? Investment in candidates at all levels, from the local communities up. Find these good candidates locally, provide these candidates with tools they can use to be successful. I’m not talking about money, though money helps. I’m talking about support in civic action, learning how to canvass in their communities, showing candidates how to interpret data and what data to look at. Also, pairing these candidates with campaign managers and people who can be successful who are willing to put in the time and effort to run a campaign.

There are good people out there who want to do good things. Both Republicans and Democrats need to do better in promoting these candidates.