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Politics : Clinton's Scandals: Is this corruption the worst ever? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Zoltan! who wrote (11495)	2/11/1999 10:46:00 AM
From: Liatris Spicata	Respond to of 13994

Zoltan- The entire Clinton saga has reinforced in me the idea that the franchise probably should not be entrusted to all. Clinton has done superbly at mastering Lincoln's, "You can fool some of the people all the time and all of the people some of the time ..." quote. Clinton has charmed his way to the top by appealing to relatively unsophisticated people. I do not know what the criteria should be to exercise the franchise. Perhaps Robert Heinlein's suggestion that virtually any filtering mechanism would be helpful. Solve a differential equation, demonstrate an understanding of the Constitution (one of my favorites). Those who valued the franchise would make it their business to satisfy it. Precocious 12 year olds could vote; soap-opera addicted thirty year olds would be excluded. This would probably not stop the likes of Robert Barry from voting, and I'm not sure it would even be desirable in the long run, but it would address your "ignorant 7%". Moreover, I think it would reduce the incentive for politicians to appeal to the lowest common denominator, a tendency I believe is capable of destroying a republic. Larry

To: Zoltan! who wrote (11495)	2/11/1999 12:29:00 PM
From: Machaon	Respond to of 13994

<< Among the most uninformed voters, Clinton achieved his margin of victory, winning 53% to 33%. >> Ahhhhhh, doesn't the working man have great incite! Most think that you can't trust what the politicians say or do. Most are working so hard that they don't have time, or the energy, to research issues. Of course, the Republicans by hiding behind the closed doors of the Senate gave us "working class" Americans less confidence in our government. << ... incumbent Democrats have a natural 7% "ignorance bonus" of voters who actually vote against their own beliefs and interests. >> The elite look at this as "the glass is half empty", by calling it the "ignorance bonus". One could look at it as "the glass is half full" by saying that democrats are willing to sacrifice their beliefs and interests in order to put the best person in office. << "almost half failed to identify the speaker of the House" >> And the other half wished that they didn't know who the speaker of the House was! <g>