The New Way to Win Elections

The 2012 upcoming elections and various debates seem to be leaving most Americans questioning what ever happened to elections being civilized. With all the new technology, it really isn't any surprise that the elections have taken the turn that they have. You are probably thinking that I am discussing the presidential election like everybody else, but honestly, those old farts couldn't use technology if their life depended on it. Instead, I am discussing the downfall of our Nebraska Senate election.

Recently, candidates Jon Bruning and Don Stenberg have gone head to head over something so juvenile: Twitter. During a debate, Bruning accused Stenberg of trying to follow his 14-year-old daughter, Lauren Bruning,  on Twitter according to Fox News. Bruning kept repeating how he thought it was very 'creepy' of a 62-year-old to be following, or trying to follow in this case, a 14-year-old. Stenberg rebutted with the fact that he doesn't run his own account like most politicians, including Jon Bruning. He also stated that his account has a database that scopes out prospective people to follow including things such as their last name or party. He figured that this was all due to a mistake the computer had made and apologized for everything. Seems like a good ending, think again.


The reason for the downfall of our elections is the fact that this all happened in the view of the public eye. Bruning, even now, will not drop this matter and keeps discussing how creepy it was for him to try to add him. Personally, I agree with Dan Parsons, a spokesperson for Stenberg, with what he discusses in the Kearney Hub. Parsons brought up the fact that this was all said in the middle of a debate, when it should have been handled privately. I completely agree and I am a little appalled by Bruning's character. Serving on the Attorney General's Youth Advisory Council last year, I had the pleasure of meeting Jon Bruning and he didn't seem capable of dirty politics. It seems that this was all just a strike against Don Stenberg's character. If we all truly acted like adults, Bruning would have had his daughter's best interests in mind and spoken to Stenberg about the matter privately. Bruning tried to accuse Stenberg of dragging his daughter into the race when that is exactly what Bruning did himself.


After watching the debate, I am just shocked what politics has really come to. Is this any way to win? To try to prove someone's character is horrible by what they do on Twitter? I realize that we have to accept that technology will be apart of every aspect in our lives but this just seems outrageous. What I take from it is that Bruning devised a perfect plan to dodge the question of Stenberg's and his different opinion on the cabinet members. Stenberg was bring up a legitimate issue when Bruning brought this out. I admit, there are some things that need to be brought up during debates, but this sure as hell isn't one of them. The ironic part of this whole thing is that Bruning also has some minors that he is following on Twitter, including a 16-year-old. Now let's talk about creepy. The only person that doesn't seem to have stooped this far is Deb Fischer. I am sure she will be considered more when it gets closer to the election based on this whole thing. But is there a way to truly know our candidates fully? Each one seems to be able to point out the flaws in the other but not acknowledge their own flaws. I would almost rather vote for someone who knows their flaws and doesn't let them slow him/her down.