Project Vote Smart is a little known political watchdog that works diligently to educate voters about candidates and their platforms. The major political parties don’t like the scrutiny and are advising candidates not to answer pre-election questions.

Huh?

Candidates running for office, purportedly campaigning for our support, are being told to keep silent on the issues voters are so eager to hear about?

No wonder voter apathy is on the rise. If information is withheld, why should we remain interested in any candidate?

Politics is a popularity contest. Playing well in the public eye is how votes are won. Talking about the issues, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee tell candidates, just gets in the way.

Candidates are getting really bad advice.

According to a national Project Vote Smart survey:

• 44.3 percent of voters believe that most candidates running for public office don’t provide citizens with enough information to make informed decisions. And now candidates are being told to provide even less detail.

• 94.1 percent of voters believe that candidates should voluntarily provide voters with their positions on the issues before elections. But many don’t, waiting until media inquires or until community groups organize sometime sparsely attended public forums.

• 75.3 percent of voters believe candidates should be required to detail their positions on issues before elections. There is no such requirement. Voters get only the information candidates are willing to divulge.

• 35.2 percent of voters are less likely to vote for candidates who they have previously voted for if that candidate is not forthcoming on the issues. And, 34.3 percent of voters are less likely to vote for a candidate they hadn’t previously supported for the same reason. It confounds reason, then, for candidates to be getting advice from national handlers to withhold information.

• 65.2 percent of voters say their willingness to contribute to the campaign of an incumbent candidate is affected if that candidate is not willing to make public his or policy positions before elections. For the ease of fundraising alone, providing information is a money-maker.

Project Vote Smart serves up pure information about state and national campaigns and ballot questions on a Web site that is easily accessible to the public but many candidates refuse to participate in the process. That, naturally, brings on voters’ curiosity about what candidates are trying to hide.

If the DCCC and NRCC are afraid of the scrutiny they ought to identify better candidates.

If candidates are afraid of the scrutiny they shouldn’t be in the race.

If voters don’t get the information we need, we don’t get the government we deserve.


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