Doug Wilson’s Political Blog

Politicians promise the world in election years. That’s regretable, but it’s to be expected.
What is more vexing is when voters and political supporters expect the impossible will happen when "their candidate" is elected.
This is probably most noticeable in the presidential election. At the recent Democrat Days held in Hannibal, a longtime party supporter told me it was absolutely vital that a Democrat be in the White House. This lady explained that her heating bill was $400 last month and a Democrat president would bring that cost down.
How would that happen, I wondered? The president has not got the power to set prices, nor would I want that.
Rather than telling how the president would in any way control energy prices, this lady then bolstered her claim by noting that gasoline prices have skyrocketed. The unspoken implication was that the Republicans caused, or at least allowed, that price increase.
What this election should be about is electing the best person, with the right philosophy and skills to do the job. It is not about holding down prices. No candidate can do that in the United States. Only a dictator would have that kind of power and a dictator would have no need for an election.