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FROM THE MARGINS | BY PATRICK AZADIAN
Los Angeles Times Valley Edition | Glendale News-Press | November 4 2006

Keeping politicians honest

I am hopeful that the upcoming city elections will have a fresh feel to them. Who knows, maybe the candidates will try to introduce some substantive platforms and bring their own vision and values to our city.

Chances are, my hopes will be dashed.

President John F. Kennedy once said: "Mothers all want their sons to grow up to be president, but they don't want them to become politicians in the process."

I think we all understand the negative vibe associated with politicians. A quick look at the dictionary also confirms this general feeling toward politicians: "Somebody who deviously manipulates interrelationships."

I personally associate a set of characteristics with politicians.

A politician does not have his own vision on issues. And if he does, he is unwilling to express them because of fear of losing votes. A politician's view is often what he or his advisors perceive to be what the majority of voters want.

So, it's not unlikely that after some research, the politician is told the people who can elect him are interested in certain topics, thus his platform. This does not sound like such an evil concept, however, it explains why so many candidates have identical platforms.

There is another issue here. If throughout history every candidate ran on the platform favored by the majority of the voters, we would probably not have so many of the freedoms and privileges we all enjoy as citizens today. Think of where we would be on civil-rights issues if we did not have visionaries who pushed for what is right and just.

As Kennedy once said, "Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth."

On the campaign trail a politician will keep the issues general and broad, and the risk factor low. Depending on the constituents, the campaign promises will address a small number of issues. In the case of Glendale, most candidates' campaign platforms will revolve around being tough on crime, keeping the city clean and having less traffic. The details of how some of these goals are going to be achieved will be left to the imagination for the voters.

Any topics that might be considered hot will be avoided by the politicians.

Where problems and issues are non-existent or scarce, a politician may also venture to create hot topics to encourage the voters to cast their votes in his favor. Popular topics to fire up the voters in past elections have included highlighting ethnic tensions, exaggerating the level of crime in the city and riding the xenophobia wave behind closed doors (or exaggerating the level of xenophobia).

Yet another characteristic of a politician is his absolute disregard for the consequences of generating tension in the community. "By any means necessary" is a politician's favorite slogan.

A politician will also place heavy emphasis on the issues important to the big donors. The logic is simple. With big funds, he can convince large numbers of economically humble voters to cast a favorable vote for him. Why spend the time and effort to address the issues important to the simple man when advertising and marketing can be more efficient? The good thing about democracy, however, is that at the end of the day, it is the voters' decision to ask the right questions from the politicians before casting their votes. No matter what kind of funds the politician accumulates, the vote still remains the property of the voter.

And finally, what is the first item on a politician's holiday wish list? The ignorance of the voter.

As President Kennedy once said: "The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all."

We probably won't have too many absolute politicians running for office, but it is up the voters to keep the candidates as honest as possible.

Copyright 2006 Glendale News Press