I don't mind barbs so much; it's part of the game. The game, of course is about marketing and marketing is about selling and selling is about differentiating your product from the others. Barbs are simply a sales tool that can be, as most things in this world, used for good or bad.
What kills me is my inability to keep track of everyone's (or anyone's) record on, well, anything. And not knowing makes it difficult and dangerous to know how to feel (or vote) because at any moment I cannot be certain about how much bullshit I'm actually ingesting.
What's worse, many of these candidates - especially the ones that have been there a while - have changed their minds over time so, in reality, there may really be some truth in whatever they claim. This is close to having one's cake and eating it too. Dieting has never been so tricky.
What we need is a balanced scorecard, an idea that was introduced in the 1990's by a business writer whose name I've honestly forgotten. Kind of like a balance sheet, it's a simple template that helps keep track of, in this case, a candidate's record over time across any particular issue. Here's how it might work:
Let's take Hillary Clinton, the Presidential candidate whose time at this particular juncture (May 2008) looks to be expiring. Love her or hate her, she was in the Senate in 2001 and soon after 9/11 she voted to give the President the authorization to start a war in Iraq. Whether that was, in fact, a good idea or not is not the point. The point is that she voted yes...
The scorecard would note that vote plus any/all public comments she made thereafter to support her decision. If ever she were to stray from her original thinking, so be it, just record it on the other side of the card and let the chips fall where they may. Lots of folks change their mind over time so she's in good company. It would also offer valuable lessons to future generations; great people were still human beings and they, too, made mistakes...
What I like best about balanced scorecards is that it, ideally, is based upon fact. Sure, context is important and without it, one might misconstrue things so let's include some context too. With that it's off to the races. Voting records, attendance, funding sources, pubic comments, infidelities, whatever; it all counts and all should be chronicled. This is what celebrity is about and if you don't like it, then don't play.
At the end of the day, I simply want enough information to make an opinion that is well-researched and informed by facts. By having such a resource, I'd be better able to defend my opinion and to help others construct their own. At the very least, I'd have somewhere to send them - those who need help developing an opinion or revising one. In this Information Age, I'd imagine this is only a few clicks away.
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