It seems like every politician who’s name has been mentioned multiple times on national news channels feel as though they should run for president.  This could turn out to be one of the strangest elections in history, but why all of these new candidates, how is this so much different from the past?

It seems likely that politicians are saying to themselves: “if they can do it, I can do it!”  Once Palin lowered the bar to qualify as a potential white house candidate it opened a flood gate for anyone seeking presidency.  What’s the problem with that?

The problem is that money talks and intelligence walks.  Michele Bachmann has proven that you can spit out whatever makes you sound good and the truth gets drowned out in the applause.

No one has the time to follow all of the actions of our politicians, thus a handful of people control what we know about our ‘leaders’ and the words that come out are all paid for by those same politicians and the corporations that have bought those politicians. 

Is there a way to be more transparent, and bypass the corruption and get straight to the truth?  That is where things get interesting and why this year we have the insanity in politics like we do.  Everyone is communicating thoughts and beliefs instantly through social media and modern technology.  This means that there are more voices in the field, and the traditional media must adapt to this new environment.

New voices bring more discussion, questions, answers, and doubt.  We still rely on traditional media for ‘the truth,’ but we are now more skeptical to believe it.  In order to operate like they have in the past politicians must shout louder than everyone else in order to be heard.  In order to shout loud you need money.  In order to get money you must be paid.  Those finances are promises that buy politicians.

Now the catch 22 is obvious.  The politicians that win are the ones with the most money, and thus the more obligations to corporations that are bound to corrupt.  How do we get beyond this conundrum?  The information age is already starting to take care of this for us.  The economic and political issues have opened our eyes and ears, and we are starting to learn to block out the political shouting match and search harder for the truth.  Soon the power of information will provide an even playing field and each party will start attempting to control the new playing field like they did with the current one.  We can only hope that truth and knowledge will prevail over money and ignorance.