Oh, Government and the Public

Public opinion influences the structure of government in many ways.  When white southerners that had been previously Democratic switched to supporting the Republic party, it was due to the support the Democratic party was giving to the black southerns.  The white southerners did not support civil rights legislation and liveral social programs.  While these movement drove white southerners away, black southereners have dominantly voted Democratic. The swing at the time gave the Republican party the majority for the first time in the 20th century.  So, the opinion of the public can sway the direction the government goes. It is not just opinion of the everyday citizens that affect government. When a candidate is voted into office, they often feel obligated to support the views of their affluent financial supports and their party activists. Mark Hanna was qouted as saying " There are two things that are important in politics.  The first is money, and I can't remember the second."  I think that statement is something that all Americans think of when they think of politics. 
Technology plays a huge part in politics and the informaiton that gets out to the public and how the public interacts with the government.  Technology has been named the primary reason Barack Obama won the 2008 Presidential elections.  Obama took to blogging, twitter, and personally emailing potential voters.  Radio, television and the internet help get the candidates word out to the people.  I believe that candidates start out with the best intention and want to help out the people the want to represent, but campaigns are corrupt.  It is solely about winning and they do it best by bashing the other candidates.  They stop telling the voters what they can do, but what bad things the other candidates have done.  The voter ends up not knowing what they are voting for, but more likely voting for agianst what they don't want.  This part of the government is where I start to get confused and frustrated.  I get lost in the information that it provided through the media and don't always take the time to do my own research on the issues and candidates.  How many more voters would vote if we all took the time to do our own research and learn the real truth?  Would government then represent the desires of the public?

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time.  We are the ones we've been waiting for.  We are the change we seek."
      Barack Obama~44th President (2008-Present)