Ads and Audiences, or, Politics as...

Has Election 2005 reached all our NALC Branch 214 members? Do we know what the issues are, who the candidates are, and where they stand on the issues? Have YOU met the candidates, in your stations? Have you SEEN them on NACL's TV-214? Have you read their campaign literature? Did you RECEIVE their campaign literature? Did you download their podcast? Were you able to link to their blog? Did you access their Internet site? In short, are we as informed as we could be, and likely to make the best possible choice for the best possible candidates? OR - is our election process lacking?

Should Union campaigns be run any differently from the typical type of political campaign processes? I submit they should. The PURPOSE of Union politics, it seems to me, should be to REACH all our members, and to bring us all closer together. That includes listening to everyone; aiming to understand, and hoping to hear from, a diversity of points of views; and representing ALL, including our minorities. Is this happening? If not, why not?

I have written elsewhere about my experience in NALC Branch 214's Election 2005 - I received NO information from over half of the candidates! I'm amazed (though some say I should not be). Have we really come down to this, that our candidates-for-election are willing to write off some of our members as unapproachable, or unnecessary, or (gasp) unworthy? See: Targeted Audiences and Exclusionary Ads.

Should it not be "Branch reccommended policy" that candidates include ALL our Branch members as recipients of their literature? After all, these candidates have offered themselves as worthy of our consideration to act as our representatives! If they intentionally EXCLUDE some of our members - are they really the type of leaders we want, or need?

And should it not also be "Branch reccommended policy" that our candidates use all available means of communications? By limiting themselves to just one or two time-tested methods (station visits and mailed leaflets), are they not likely to FAIL - that is, they will be unable to reach ALL of our members? And are they not delaying the day when we fully utilize the Internet as a communications tool? Are they not, therefor, holding us back?

I submit that the PROCESS of elections, and the campaigns of the candidates, are just as important as the outcome itself! They influence, and in some cases DETERMINE, the type of Union we have. In order words - the election process helps decide whether we ARE, in fact, a UNION! It's your vote - so,

VOTE!