Carefully Connecting the Dots

  Although inferencing is inherent in our personal selections for those seeking public offices, this election cycle poses a particularly more challenging task among the undecided in casting a conclusive vote for president. In this high stakes arena it is a given that competitors will deliberately obscure rival messaging, but the oddity of a candidate obscuring his own is rare, if not unique. In the event that such campaign calamity is of no consequence (while it certainly cannot be perceived as an effective strategy) and happenchance yields a victory, political rhetoric based on substance and truth risks being diminished even further than it is already, eroding ideals in democracy along with it.  However, the clamor for more specificity from candidates speaks to the health of an informed citizenry, and keeps hope alive. Albeit candidates will offer voters a paint-by-number method of presenting themselves, the electorate should stand to gain a more qualitative democracy by carefully connecting the dots.