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CAMPAIGNS & OTHER PAINS
By B. Lee Coyne ATMS

By now we all must know that this is an important election year.
Many of the candidates are first timers.
Their pitch is hitched to communication.

We are the evaluators of the message.
Newcomers try to identify with our interests.
They deploy buzz words.

Experience is often bandied about.
However, its depth is unknown.
A title is not always titillating.

Crime remains a public concern.
Have they tested out their plan -
or is it a mere generality?
Adding more police doesn’t make miracles.

Drugs is another key issue.
Yet a full solution eludes us.

The climate crisis envelops the entire world.
No one lawmaker can legislate cooperation.

To be successful that lawmaker needs
to be persuasive in lining up a majority of his or her peers.
A track record of bringing sides together
helps to get that bill to the finish line.

Taking an aggressive position can alienate others
and make for a stronger opposition.
Most voters haven’t thought how stringent views can backfire.

However, Toastmasters tryouts can sharpen how we can move beyond empty rhetoric.
Speech prep paves the way.
Doing Table Topics sensitizes us to press conferences as done impromptu.

Being an evaluator develops our more discerning eye.

Election Day arrives slightly after Halloween.
Trick or treat?
It may depend on skeletons in the old proverbial closet!

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