Shallow and Gullible

I often wonder how some people get reelected.  There is a fellow in the Illinois Legislature named Derrick Smith.  He’s on the ballot in November.  The trouble is that Derrick is under indictment for taking a bribe to influence a $50,000 state grant.

Fellow democrats were warning people about him.  The state legislature is holding hearings regarding his conduct.

But that didn’t stop the voters from choosing him in the primary.

Then there’s Meg Gorecki, the woman who won her State’s Attorney race years ago despite her voice on an answering machine promising a government job to someone if they donated to her campaign.

Just how do voters bring themselves to put people like this in office?

I think I have the answer.  People are shallow and gullible and they buy the advertisement hype.  The politicians who push those same buttons get votes.

I’m fascinated by these Internet ads that run alongside websites and pay for the content.  Sure, I understand capitalism and how impressions sell merchandise.  What fascinates me is that the content is downright idiotic.

For example, there’s a famous diet plan that shows a fit-and-trim man in his 40s telling us, “I ate burgers and drank beer and I still lost weight.”

Or the video clip of a woman in the hallway fumbling for her keys to her apartment when a perky blonde rushes up and says, “Don’t go in there.  It’s your surprise birthday party.  Let’s get your hair ‘party-ready’ in minutes with…”

Do people really buy that hype?  I guess so, or they wouldn’t use commercials like that.

But these same people vote based on red dresses and hair cuts.  They really do fall for the empty promises spouted by politicians. 

There is a laughable article on the web today about how “complex” the Obama message is.  Michael Finnegan of the LA Times suggests that Romney has a short message but Obama’s is more nuanced.  Of course, he’s a minion for Obama, but the readers don’t know that.  They just lap up the message that Barack is doing a great job but is misunderstood by the public.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-obama-message-20120612,0,1568362.story

The truth is in the comments section of the article, but few care to examine it.