Political Ads
Character is destiny.
And the character of our leaders shapes the character of the nation.
Fortunately, in a democratic republic, we get to choose those leaders for ourselves.
It is after Labor Day, and election campaigns are in full swing across the country. In Texas, we have some exciting candidates up and down the ballot and a hot race for the U.S. Senate. If you turn on your television or consume any form of media, you are about to be drowning in political ads. Tens of millions of dollars will be spent to persuade voters.
Pay attention to what you hear in the ads supporting candidates this cycle. Political advertising tells us something important, not merely about the opponents, but about what a candidate thinks voters should care about. Is there a positive vision being put forth? Do the issues they raise align with the concerns you have for yourself and your community?
Watch political advertising this fall and ask yourself what is missing. Do you hear about:
Cost of Living – This is the number one issue affecting people’s lives, with costs being driven up by policy choices including tariffs and the war with Iran.
War with Iran – A choice to spend billions to put our service members at risk, damage our national security, alienate our allies, and drive up the cost of everything for Americans.
Debt & Deficits – The country is running massive deficits and piling up debt while we are supposedly experiencing the strongest economy in the country's history.
The Epstein Files – Once a major talking point, this is an issue that no one wants to discuss.
Corruption & Ethics – Certainly not a subject that will be raised by current elected officials of a certain political party.
Healthcare Costs – Again, this is a policy choice with a side order of sticking your head in the sand to ignore an issue that undermines the economic resiliency of many families.
These are the top issues voters care about, but some candidates will say nothing about them. Character is revealed by what a candidate chooses to do when solving a problem is harder than exploiting a fear. We are going to be blasted with ads designed to convince us that the following non-issues are really scary problems that should keep us up at night.
Transgender Athletes – This is a .001% population with current rules barring participation at the collegiate level.
Communism/Socialism – An oldie but a goodie.
Immigrants – What exactly is the threat from the hardest-working members of our society?
Election Integrity – There is no evidence of fraud on any scale that would justify the rhetoric surrounding it.
Library Books – Histrionics that ignore the reality that every book ever written is freely available to anyone who wants it on the Internet.
Sharia Law – A not-so-subtle and racist attempt to smear the devout followers of a global religion that accounts for only 1.3% of the population of the United States.
When candidates have little to offer on the problems people experience every day, fear becomes a convenient substitute for governing. Make you afraid of it and then blame the other side for it. That is the choice hidden inside much of our political advertising: solutions or scapegoats. Governing is difficult. Frightening people is easy.
Listen carefully over the next few weeks. Not just to what candidates say, but to what they avoid saying. Ask which candidates are talking about the problems that actually affect your family, and which are simply telling you what to fear.
Then ask a hard question: Which of these people demonstrates the character, integrity, courage, honor, and sense of duty you would want your children to emulate?
Character is destiny. Including ours.
