It's primary voting season all over the country! Some people will vote for candidates they know. Some people will vote for candidates they don't know. And some voters will vote for candidates because of their name or their narrative.
Some people voted for Barack Obama because they believed the "hope and change" rhetoric. Some people voted for him because they felt that it was time in our history to have a black president. Still others voted for him because they knew and approved of his liberal agenda for America. Some voted for him because they just could not vote for the Republican candidate.
To quote a famous TV commercial for Wendy's Hamburgers years ago,"Where's the beef?" The answer is there is none, but enough people voted for a hamburger bun with lettuce, tomato, mayo and no meat. I mean no disrespect, but this is a president and administration that lacks leadership and governance substance.
According to some polls, many people are contemplating doing the same thing again because of a candidate's last name. Some say they will vote for Hillary Clinton because it's "time for a woman president", and her last name is Clinton. Nearly every well-known Democrat in Georgia has endorsed Michelle Nunn for the U.S. Senate because her last name is Nunn. She is the daughter of the well-respected former Democrat senator from Georgia, Sam Nunn, and she just happens to be leading in the polls amongst Democrats.
And Georgia State Sen. Jason Carter (grandson of former President Jimmy Carter) is running for Governor of Georgia. Wow! Isn't that an impressive resume!
In the interest of non-partisanship in this commentary, let's not omit Liz Cheney's bid for the U.S. senate in Wyoming. (She is the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney.) She dropped out due to family health issues.
And Senator Rand Paul (son of Representative Ron Paul, who is himself a former Republican presidential candidate) is positioning himself to run for president. Clue! The Kentucky Legislature passed a resolution to allow him to run for re-election to the U.S. Senate and president simultaneously, just in case he does not get the Republican presidential nomination.
I know from personal experience that name recognition is an important element in getting elected, because many people do not pay attention to who's running until Election Day. In fairness, they do not have time to pay attention to all the candidates, all the issues and all the political promises.
Even today when I travel and people recognize me, they immediately say "9-9-9"! Most people would say they remember me from the Republican presidential debates in 2011, and how I boldly talked about replacing the current tax code with the 9-9-9 plan. It shows that name recognition and a good idea that people can relate to represent a powerful combination.
What do you remember about the above candidates other than their last names?
Times up! That's my point.
Party activists and candidates have got to educate people beyond name recognition, so people can make their voting decisions based on substance. Candidates with high name recognition and a shallow resume usually will produce shallow results when they are in office.
But for some reason people can't forget "9-9-9". I'm just saying!
Don't vote stupid.
