O'Dowd Politics

If I were to run for president I wouldn’t pander for votes.

Pandering is for losers.  Voters can tell if a candidate is only taking a position for votes–right?  Take this last election as an example:  President Obama developed the deferred action policy to gain the Hispanic vote and “evolved” his position on gay marriage just to help appease two segments of the electorate that were less than enthusiastic about his performance on the issues that were so important to them.  How about Mitt Romney?  Did he claim to support policies that were clearly different from his past record in the public eye all while never offering a plausible explanation as to why is position had changed?  This may a little more difficult to determine as Romney didn’t have the power to implement new policies during the election like his opponent did, but one could make the argument that it was a little disingenuous to both hate Obamacare and defend his actions on socialized medicine while he was the governor of Massachusetts.  Not to mention his public statements about putting coal companies out of business while he was governor–contrasting sharply with his “friend of coal” lovefests while pounding the pavement in Pennsylvania during the heat of the election.  One thing is for certain; pandering is an unavoidable evil in politics today as both sides work to gain a few extra votes with demographics that are less than ecstatic about their success at gaining public office.

We all hate pandering and most of us can see through it knowing that a sudden change to a position that we have hoped to see for so long is most likely just a quick fling to take our vote and run—not unlike the flaky friend we had in college that would invite us to a party just so we would bring our cute friend along with us.  Even so, we still fall for it sometimes, especially when the new position is exactly what we have been hoping and praying for.  Now it’s there, right in front of us—like a mirage in the desert to satisfy our thirst right before we expire from lack of water.  In the moment of bliss we forget that four years ago somebody offered us the same thing and then got “so busy” with the economy or the war in Afghanistan, or working on alternative energy issues that he completely forgot to do anything until he needed our vote.  Oh well, you think, perhaps it will be different this time and besides, what do I have to lose since the other guy hasn’t even offered to help.  You just got pandered!

If I were to run for president I wouldn’t pander.  Period.  Politicians have to take artificial positions simply because they’ve already made enemies when it wasn’t necessary, or they have poor communication skills to articulate complex views.  Obama already had the support of the LGBT community; he didn’t need to come out for gay marriage, especially when he had pandered for the christian black vote four years earlier by standing against homosexual unions.  Romney was out of line when he spoke out against coal plants as a governor.  He made enemies when it wasn’t necessary and had to backtrack during his campaign by attacking the other guy rather than admitting he was wrong in the past.  Nope, I won’t pander.  I’ll be man enough to stand on principles that fit my belief system and humble enough to admit when I’m wrong, apologize, and move on.  Sure, I might lose a few votes from some groups that don’t particularly benefit from my policies, but at least everyone will know where I stand and I won’t have to pretend to be something I’m not.

Mark it down, put it in your time capsule, chisel it into stone—when O’Dowd runs for president he will tell you the truth, have carefully articulated views on policy for every demographic and issue, and will be willing to admit he’s wrong when he’s boneheaded enough to say something dumb.  (Writing in third person: not good!)  Here’s the bottom line:  pandering is for losers, it’s disingenuous, artificial, and as obvious as a three headed dog.  If I run for president I’ll be honest, fair, nice, and modify my position if I realize I was wrong and can articulate why my position has changed.  Flip-flop maybe; pander never.

O’Dowd