I received my Oregon Ballot today...

[Sabertooth]

I was not sure that every single candidate was running uncontested. I'm astounded if that is truly factual.

Unfortantly this is true. It cost alot of money to run for any elected office. In many cases running against the incumbent is a waste of your money. Unless the incumbent really screwed up and pissed off a whole lot of people.

 

[Sabertooth]

I would love to see "None of the above" on the ballots. Why?? To toss all the professionals out and start over with non-professional politicans.

 

[Dayu]

Unfortantly this is true. It cost alot of money to run for any elected office.

Sometimes. But not necessarily. Lots of good-quality volunteers can make up for lack of deep pockets. But there is a problem with getting quality ... and even getting volunteers.

Which is why I get the giggles at gunnies whining about how they can't get good candidates elected - but the whiners are frequently the ones who also aren't interested in opening their wallets or - better still - learning how to be a useful volunteer. It's not a 1:1 correlation between whining and not giving ... but it's awfully strong.