The ADHD Voter

1 Comments:

• Posted by Susan M Shinn - Nov 2 2008 @ 3:28 PM
  Sorting it out
  It's okay that it's confusing, because this year is so full of misleading ads and accusations no one can figure it out easily. I've lived with undiagnosed ADD for most of my life (and I'm grandmother to a teenager now) and I developed a lot of survival techniques which, it has turned out, work pretty well (and some that don't work well, sigh). Here's what works for me. First I make a list of what issues are important to me (healthcare, especially including mental health; the environment; the economy; education; war in Iraq) and the direction I like to see those issues take (Just don't ask me to prioritize!) Then once I have an idea of what I (not my neighbors or family) want to see happen, I go to each candidates' site and look up their bios and basic history (what they've done the rest of their lives is a truer indication of what they're likely to do in the future than what they are saying this minute. If their past and present are consistent with each other, that means you can pretty well trust they'll actually do what they say. If they change directions at one point of their lives, that's okay if they stick to it since then. If they've changed several times, you can't trust them to follow through.) Then look up their platforms and/or various plans in the areas important to you and see if they plan to go the direction you want. Then look at their overall behaviour toward the other candidate (check on line or tv ads or newspapers you trust) and see it they address the other with respect, remain calm in the face of attacks, and supply facts as opposed to unsupported sensationalism in the face of accusations. Or do they lose their cool and their temper, become confused or defensive, and say what they think the audience wants to hear (more a gut feeling than anything else). Remember no one will ever be perfect, but listening to them and reading about each separately from both sides should give you a feel for which one thinks more closely to how you think things should be. That's the one to vote for. Ideally you want to start this process a couple of months ahead and just check from time to time if things seem to remain the same or morph into something else along the way. If you are the hyper-focus type, you probably can cover this all by Tuesday, but that's a lot of pressure. Mostly at this point, start the process and concentrate on your gut feeling for what you are reading at that moment, if you're getting confused keep notes on main points to keep straight who is who and what's important to you, and when you find yourself leaning in one direction or another fairly strongly, that's the one to pick. Don't worry about "picking what seems nicer", but learn to trust your gut and your feelings. And try to narrow down what's really important to You, whatever it is. This basic framework also works (with minor changes in information sources) for choosing colleges, places to move to, health care, car repair shops, future mates and so much more. If you don't feel comfortable with it, don't choose it. If it's something that must be done, ask someone you trust to help you with it or to do the parts that upset you (within reason.) Just talking with some one about it may help you get in touch with how you really feel (and it may not have anything to do with any particular thing either of you say.) Just mainly, trust yourself, discard the stuff that's just noise or not important to you, and you'll find you're wiser than you think.