Politics In Myspace

When we break the word down, “politics” could be interpreted as “many blood sucking creatures”. Not exactly a flattering name for the activity, but I believe it describes the practice accurately. When I read the article in Ms. Rosen’s class, I was not upset with the new tactics being used by our presidential candidates to appeal to a, shall we say, more shallow crowd. Politicians do what they do because it’s their job, so there is no reason to call or point at faulty stratagem. Following that, the MySpace campaign extension could actually be seen as somewhat informative. Finally, as a society, we must realize that politics will never be clean, so there is no use for us to give into our naivetÐ"© and hope that it will. There is nothing wrong with the presidential candidates using MySpace to reach voters.

Though Stein poked fun at the perfunctory “interest” that most voters have when selecting their candidates, he decided to show us the extreme. The truth is everyone’s votes count the same, informed or not and Stein makes it clear to us what the candidates would be willing to do to get them. Though he positioned Rudy Giuliani under a negative light for being so defensive with his online behavior, one could see that Giuliani was just trying to keep business-related matters separate from personal matters. In a way, one could say he’s the most “decent” of the candidates because he did so. As for the rest of the candidates, they can only hope that their profile is all we know about them, and that it will be the only criteria in which we judge them on before sending in our ballots. The politeness and patience concerning their behavior in their online activity shows perseverance and alertness to take any opportunity to get what they want. Personally, I admire that, for I hold cunning and wisdom as crucial character traits for anyone who’d get my vote. The candidates demonstrate such an awareness of what is necessary to get elected, to land their dream job, that it seems I applaud their approach.

Secondly, though some may see past the faux courtesy and pseudo-amiability that the candidates display online, it could be that they might’ve posted reliable campaign information as well as their positions on certain issues crucial towards a voter’s decision. If one would get past the superficiality at their maneuvers to get in with the hip, new generation, one could actually use their site as a reference. Stein (though jocular) makes this point clear, “I’m sure picking a presidential candidate on the basis of what he’s done or what he says is a great method-if you’re 70 and have nothing but free time.”