I am politically lazy. I do not want to wade through all the BS to find a candidate that I barely hate less than the others. Politics bores me to tears and I just don’t believe any of them, IMO, all liars and/or thieves.
I would say this is the biggest thing that Americans have in common. This is why voter turn out is so poor and why “we the people” are so ill informed. I know it’s lazy but I just cannot get even remotely interested in anything other than the presidential election or gubernatorial race.
Soooo… what I want is the crib notes for politics. I want a website where I can find the basics on the politicians, local, state and national.
Is there such a place for me to find this kind of info? Please say I can remain lazy without the guilt!
LML
(LazyMzLee)
My only suggestion is that you try public radio and public television for more unbiased reporting on the politicians and issues.
Occam
Soooo…. what I want is the crib notes for politics. I want a website where I can find the basics on the politicians, local, state and national.Both of the main political parties here in the U.S.have their own websites, DNC and the RNC and you can look up the candidates and their platform planks there, or use the internet to go to the particular candidate's website. They all have one and many use bullet points to explain their agendas. If they're local, just give their office a call and ask. They'll fall over you to give you any information. Remember, you're a potential voter. Cap't Jack
You could try The League of Women Voters. There is no such organization that is going to be without its own biases, so you filter information keeping in mind the biases that are apparent to you.
Another thing I would suggest is that you relax your expectations about needing to like a candidate. No individual is ever going to fix what’s wrong in our national social and economic culture. Instead of looking at politics in regards to persons, focus on issues that that you care about, that matter to you. Vote for your issues, not a personality. In politics, the more you separate personality from your criteria for making choices, the clearer your choices become. You still will have to pick what things matter most to you because you can only vote “at” general direction, not “for” a solution. There are no panaceas in politics. And, the old saying “the lesser of two evils” always applies.
I personally avoid headline news and read about what I care about. I check The Secular News Daily and a few other sites that focus on issues I care about, and I leave the rest of the “news” to the pundits.
All great answers, thank you!
As far as the local level, I don’t even know who’s running and for what. That is one of the things that I was hoping to find out on a single site. I would like to see the local, state and federal government have a “what’s upcoming at the poles” web site. Just the basics of what will be on the ballot box information so I can determine what and how much information I want to look for on the issue.
MzLee
All great answers, thank you! As far as the local level, I don't even know who's running and for what. That is one of the things that I was hoping to find out on a single site. I would like to see the local, state and federal government have a "what's upcoming at the poles" web site. Just the basics of what will be on the ballot box information so I can determine what and how much information I want to look for on the issue. MzLeeYour county is in charge of running the polls for all elections Mz Lee. That includes city, local, state, federal elections. First thing you need to do is make sure you are registered to vote. Do this as soon as possible. You'll probably have to bring ID to register and/or proof of residence. If you're not registered, you can't vote. If you want to vote in primaries, you may have to register with a party. You may not. It differs from place to place and party to party. Next thing is find out what precinct(ward, or election district.) you are in. Then find out where your precinct votes. A church, a school or some such place. You can't just vote anywhere. You have to vote in your ward. If you have done all this already my apologies. If you knew all of this, sorry. I'm just trying to get you voting. You can still be lazy and vote. The next thing you have to do is pay attention to when election days are.(plus any special elections.) It's pretty easy. Election days are usually few and far between. Then find out who's running in the upcoming election on a state, local, county and federal level. If you are lazy, I would suggest being a party line voter. It's effective. Just vote!
Hey Miss Lee… first of all I should compliment you for your laziness! Nothing more attractive than a freakin’ lazy woman to chill with 
Try this: 2022 Political Quiz
Didn’t load for me right now, but it’s a cool quiz, rather lengthy and detailed, as if you answer “other”, it keeps asking.
Turns out I’m a tree-hugging Democrat, considering my positions and those of the parties. Would not have noticed that, at least not that quickly, as I am, pardon me, “lazy”.
Peace.
Michelle
Btw: this is a great article on political polarization.
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/06/no-americas-not-divided-108119.html?ml=m_t4_2h#.U6ZWF9q9KSM
I know this is cynical but it’s honest. Give it up. Unless you’re up for dealing with mind-numbing ignorance, complete dishonesty (as in do anything, say anything since the ends justify the means), and blind faith to views completely opposite to your own, I’d give it up.
My spouse was on the local schoolboard. She was a good egg going in, always found the good in people, went in with a good heart wanting to help the kids, not caring about people’s political affiliation, not really even knowing much at all about politics, etc. She came out in four years hating people, totally disgusted with just how low people will go to achieve a goal that she knew for a fact was out of self-interest, not out of what was good for the kids. And her moderate Repub friend complained and hated it just as much. Even at the stupid trivial local schoolboard level the moronic conservatives have their hooks in, follow the evil playbooks put out by the likes of Fox News and Karl Rove, and ruin everything. And they did it with the intent of lowering their own taxes, not helping the kids. AND guess what…taxes have skyrocketed because of the school district because, you guessed it, they’re imbeciles who mismanaged everything. I know this is just one example, but I’ll bet it’s pretty representative of the effect the morons have had on politics at all levels.
Oh, how I wish you were wrong, Cuthbert. California voted to set legislative districts by a “nonpartisan” committee to avoid the self interest of them being chosen by the politicians. I went to a public meeting of that committee where the citizens could make recommendations as to district boundaries. Not one person spoke in defense of the general good. Every one wanted his/her boundaries to a) Make sure his/her ethnicity was strongly represented, b) Make sure her son’s high school football team wouldn’t be split because the school districts followed political boundaries, c) Make sure they didn’t get a lower economic class area in their district since that would threaten their long-time representative, or for some other selfish, equally stupid, self-interested motivation.
They did manage to break up a few long-time, strongly biased districts, but they generated just about as many new biased ones.
Occam
Cuthbertj and Occam, I hope you still vote, right? What you both describe is just how good people are driven from politics by their own idealistic expectations and the reality of how savage and petty politics tends to be. Wanting to do some good is actually rather naive and too broad. The political arena requires compartmentalization, pragmatism and specific goals. The decision to go into politics is only doable if you already know what you want to change. A good reason to get involved with the local school board would be because you want to keep Intelligent Design out of the schools. A clear cut doable goal.
Oh, and you’d want to have a thick titanium skin before you go near the beast.
Absolutely. I haven’t missed an election in the sixty-two years since I turned twenty-one. And I’ve been the recording secretary, treasurer, parlimentarian, and now the newsletter editor of my local Democratic club over the years. I feel the remedy for sleaze and stupidity in politics is to stay involved and vocal. Gradually, as people are educated and convinced things can change.
Occam