The Dangers Of Uneducated Voting

As possibly the most historically significant presidential election in United States history descends upon us, voters have heard arguments and accusations from both sides, some true, some untrue, most being exaggerated truths or scenarios that haven't been fully explained. After all is said and done, the final say goes to the people, the voters.

For the past year, the American voters have had to responsibily analyze both sides and decide whom they feel is best suited to run the country. However, for the Average Joe the majority of issues are not thoroughly analyzed to the point where one can come to a truly informed conclusion, and instead for many, decisions are made based largely off of advertisements or news reports that have been cleverly spun to distort facts in order to lead the audience to lean a certain way. Many Americans rely on what they read and what they hear in the media to help them in determining their political stances.

Unfortunately, many media outlets make little or no effort hide their political preferences while delivering the news, whether it's NBC and its left wing politics or Fox News and its right wing politics. Even outlets positioned closer to the center of the political spectrum for routinely criticized for leaning a certain way. This leaves many in the audience vulnerable to being manipulated by partisan coverage or what many consider to be nothing less than propaganda.

With Election Day less than a week away, there are still large factions of people that believe that Barack Obama is a Muslim terrorist. And with John McCain trailing in the polls this late into the political season, his campaign has resorted to many attacks that are meant to play into the fear of voters, most of the time failing, but at times succeeding.

Republicans, Democrats, as well as numerous third parties resort to these tactics often subliminally to avoid being subject to negative public backlash. While these tactics are commonly reprehensible, they tend to be remarkably effective and are generally considered to be fair game during political season.

Due to the historical significance of the election, this political season has seen record numbers when it comes to voter registration, as a result a higher number of voters should turn out on election day, both educated voters as well as uneducated. The uneducated voters can be broken down into many subdivisions, the most obvious being those who may be voting for either the Obama/Biden ticket or the McCain/Palin ticket purely for the chance to see either the first African-American president or the first female Vice President, as well as people who may be voting on racial or chauvinistic lines simply to deter one of the presumable outcomes from occurring. Many people have various reasons that play into their deciding factor regarding the election.

Emotions are incredibly high for this election on both sides and emotions can cause voters to vote a certain way, which may or may not necessarily reflect an ideal situation or the vision that one might have regarding the direction of their specific constituency or the entire nation in general.

With the nation's economic state in turmoil and uncertain in the near future, the quintessential scenario would be to have most if not all voters be educated on the issues for the power of democracy to have its most profound effect. However, that hopeful proposition is practically impossible in today's society.
Consequentially in many cases, election results are based on who was able to present an argument that cast the opposition in the most negative light by playing into the fears of the average voters.

By the average person taking the time to become more socially conscious and finding mediums they can trust in order to educate themselves on the issues, the American democracy can become more trusted to make informed issues regarding government.