I believe most politicians are basically good people.  Their incentives may be wrong.  And they may be contributing to policy that is leading to the slow decay of our form of government.  But the individuals themselves are (for the most part) intending to do good.  However, all too often the politicians of today make the unfortunate mistake of believing themselves to know better than the voters.  And so they become wary.  They don't say what they really think.  They say one thing to one group and another thing to a different group.  They attempt to manipulate voters instead of presenting who they really are and what they really believe.  No one can say this doesn't happen.  It happens so much we've become accustomed to it, and surprised (even offended) when it doesn't.  In a word, it's called politics.

How does this happen?  When politicians decide they are better suited to decide who becomes the next senator, or congressman, or mayor, they attempt to "fool" voters into electing someone the voter may not actually want.  So the politician, knowing the voter wouldn't voter for him or her if the voter knew everything about the politician, attempts to only reveal a part of the whole picture.  The politician panders, and waffles, and even outright lies sometimes.  He or she figures out which way the wind is blowing and runs in that direction as fast as possible.

We have become so accustomed to this model of the "public servant" that we expect, when a politician is truly "honest," only ambition, narcissism, and greed will be revealed, as the following video shows.

But is this really all that we can hope for?  NO!  Especially not in local elections, where there are many good people who truly care about their homes and their community.  What we need are for the regular citizens to step up against the career politicians so that we can have a government that truly represents the people once again.  And in Escondido, that's what has happened.


Joe Bologna is a regular citizen, which a wife and three (almost) grown children.  He has owned a business in Escondido for the better part of twenty years.  And he's lived here for thirty.  Joe knows and loves this city as much as anyone ever could.  And that is why he is running for Mayor of Escondido.  Because we need someone to step up.  A vote for Joe for Mayor is not only a vote for the future of Escondido, it's a vote against the pandering, waffling, ambitious, career politicians that have managed to infiltrate every level of American government.