Popularitics: The Political "Popularity" Contest

Everyone was strangers once. People vote for their friends. Ask around and you will hear how people vote for a certain person because they just met the person or they sounded like a nice guy/girl or they like their smile. They do not know the big picture positives and negatives of the candidate, they just take that small grain of interaction and they run with it. Therefore, it is more perceived “popularity” than actual popularity. In this case, real world politics is actually worse than High School politics. The funny thing is that you ask these people before they met someone and they tell you that they are voting for the other candidate. Effectively, voting for the familiar face instead of the stranger. And yet, when they meet the stranger and they become perceivable friends-- their vote comes into question. No matter what party one subscribes to.  This is the problem with politics. Not the politicians, the voters that take, with blind loyalty, an interaction to mean friendship and warmth. I, for one, would never vote for a friend-- voting is not an area where loyalty should be a beacon, this is where common sense and life-or-death decisions are being made... this is where everyone is a stranger until they propose and act on realistic solutions. Afterall, there was a time where one or everyone would have told the perceived popular candidate to take a hike.... that they were voting for the other guy/girl. Everyone goes through that at the beginning. So why perpetuate the problem?