By Sarah Pfander
Gargoyle assistant editor
Posted Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2006, The OG, opinions

The recent passage of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 has caused an uproar within the Uni student body. And it should. It should cause an uproar everywhere. Such a clear breach of our constitutional rights needs to be taken seriously and dealt with immediately. However, there are aspects to this entire issue that I find more troubling than the actual act. This has to do with our society and our increasing ignorance.

What influences voters? What do voters care about? What is going to make them vote for me? These are the questions everyone who runs for office asks themselves. And increasingly, politicians are finding that it is not what they say that wins them votes; it's what they do, or rather, what they don't do.

Apparently, people don't care about policies, ideals, or political views; they are more interested in whether or not the candidate ever smoked marijuana, or whether the candidate ever hired an illegal immigrant. And this is what is troubling me.

The Military Commissions Act represents how corrupt the Bush administration is, but the United States has now elected George W. Bush to two terms. The Patriot Act is another example of legislation that went completely ignored.

The war in Iraq, the massive deficit, Bush's stupidity — these are all things that should have influenced voters. But no, it was the fact that President Bush is a good Christian that won him votes. What happened to the separation of church and state? George W. Bush's religion should have no effect on his amount of votes and should have nothing to do with his running platform.

Democratic attempts to win voter support in the aftermath of the Mark Foley scandal is another illustration of this new trend. I think that Foley was wrong in sexually harassing the 16-year-old page, and I think surrounding officials were wrong for not reporting the incident and protecting the page.

But, nobody seems to care that Mark Foley, throughout his 11-year career in the U.S. House of Representatives, tried to increase restrictions on child pornography and outaw commercial photography of children, or tighten federal sex offender laws. Nobody cares that Foley was pro-choice, against giving President Bush more power in international trade agreements, and an advocate of protecting the Florida Everglades. The Democrats, hellbent on using this scandal to their advantage, have failed to see that Mark Foley was one of the few moderate Republicans left in the House. They refuse to notice that the end of his political career increases the possibility that a more radical rightist will run and win.

Of course, it is not really the Democrats' fault. If they support Foley, their campaign will suffer. Nevertheless, there is a longstanding trend in which candidates who can put on the biggest show, dig up the biggest secret about their opponents, and coerce the most voters are the candidates who will win. Long gone is the time when politicians can campaign based upon the truth, based upon their policies, and based upon their visions.