meet the mayor

[kaysixteen]

I live in a large 50+ bldg, which has mostly a low income clientele (it is income controlled).   This is an election year here, for local officials.   Our mayor, seeking a third 2-yr term (non-partisan races in town, though both mayoral candidates are Dems, as are most of the city council ones).   A few days back signs from the mayor's campaign appeared in the elevators, inviting us to a free dinner tomorrow night, in our community hall room.  His opponent has not done this.   Now I have voted for the guy twice now, and voted for him in the primary last month.  Somehow, this invite has got me thinking maybe I will change my mind-- does this not sound like bribery to you?

[clean]

I dont know... I get 'invited' all the time to lunch or dinner at some restaurant.  IF I attend, I believe that the 'host' will give us a retirement sort of spiel.  Remember, there is no free lunch! 

and what will the meal be?  Roast Duck or spaghetti? 

You may want to attend and if there is a question and answer portion, ask who and how this meal was paid for?

[Wahoo Redux]

Vote on the candidate's ideas and abilities, not on silly political theater. 

[kaysixteen]

Thing is, the two candidates are more or less the same.

I will probably still vote for the incumbent, but I confess the free dinner is IMO unseemly, esp since the population of this building is lower income, often poor, and, like it or not, this seems like trying to buy votes.

[Parasaurolophus]

does this not sound like bribery to you?

Yes, something along those lines. I would take the free meal, however.

[dismalist]

Thing is, the two candidates are more or less the same.

I will probably still vote for the incumbent, but I confess the free dinner is IMO unseemly, esp since the population of this building is lower income, often poor, and, like it or not, this seems like trying to buy votes.

Buying votes? Unseemly? That's how democracy works! Politician offers a policy. If we like, we vote for him or her. He offered to supply, we purchased -- not with money, but with our vote! Perfectly normal.

If the two candidates are close together in their policies, one of them has to throw in something extra to win. Dinner is one of those things! :-)

[ciao_yall]

Thing is, the two candidates are more or less the same.

I will probably still vote for the incumbent, but I confess the free dinner is IMO unseemly, esp since the population of this building is lower income, often poor, and, like it or not, this seems like trying to buy votes.

Buying votes? Unseemly? That's how democracy works! Politician offers a policy. If we like, we vote for him or her. He offered to supply, we purchased -- not with money, but with our vote! Perfectly normal.

If the two candidates are close together in their policies, one of them has to throw in something extra to win. Dinner is one of those things! :-)

Iowa Straw Poll, anyone?

[ciao_yall]

does this not sound like bribery to you?

Yes, something along those lines. I would take the free meal, however.

What is the difference between offering hospitality to listen to a speech, versus heavy campaign donations in exchange for and promises to drastically cut taxes and regulations to improve profits at the expense of public safety?

[kaysixteen]

I get that campaign contributions and bribes are essentially two sides of the same coin, but this free dinner seems an overt bribe being shifted off to poor people.  I am wondering whether dismalist is even serious-- if he is, there really would be no appreciable diff between offering free dinners to poor seniors, vs going down to skid row and handing out free bottles of cheap gin to drunks, in exchange for their agreeing to get on a bus to take em to a polling place?

I did not get home in time to go to the dinner yesterday, which is probably a good thing because it, given my views, would really have been unseemly for me to have accepted His Honor's free chow.

[Juvenal]

Vote on the candidate's ideas and abilities, not on silly political theater. 

A box of cheese pizza at my door?  Why not my vote?

[dismalist]

I get that campaign contributions and bribes are essentially two sides of the same coin, but this free dinner seems an overt bribe being shifted off to poor people.  I am wondering whether dismalist is even serious-- if he is, there really would be no appreciable diff between offering free dinners to poor seniors, vs going down to skid row and handing out free bottles of cheap gin to drunks, in exchange for their agreeing to get on a bus to take em to a polling place?

I did not get home in time to go to the dinner yesterday, which is probably a good thing because it, given my views, would really have been unseemly for me to have accepted His Honor's free chow.

Dismalist is perfectly serious.

From the point of view of the supplier of policy, the candidate for office, there is no problem with where the votes come from. It's only ever a question of what the extra vote costs.

Iowa Straw Poll, anyone?

The candidates were paying money for a poll that turned out to be useless in getting to the general. So they stopped.

[Parasaurolophus]

does this not sound like bribery to you?

Yes, something along those lines. I would take the free meal, however.

What is the difference between offering hospitality to listen to a speech, versus heavy campaign donations in exchange for and promises to drastically cut taxes and regulations to improve profits at the expense of public safety?

Degree and directness of causation?

I'm against both, though. I think elections should be entirely publicly funded.

[dismalist]

Publicly funding elections does not change incentives. There would still be fundraising to pay for stuff candidates do, or soliciting voluntary labor in lieu of money, to get elected. And candidates would still promise stuff to get elected.

Public funding would be akin to a Universal Basic Income for candidates. :-)

[Wahoo Redux]

Vote on the candidate's ideas and abilities, not on silly political theater. 

A box of cheese pizza at my door?  Why not my vote?

That is an excellent point.  I could be bought with a bag of Fritos. 

[Kron3007]

A true bribe would need to be more transactional to me, like giving you a free meal if you agree to vote for him.  In this case, it is not, they are simply giving everyone a free meal so they have a captive audience to try to convince.  A fine line perhaps, but different.

I. Reality, politicians have been donating time to work at soup kitchens for decades.  This is no different in that they are providing food to low income people to make them look good. 

It is a little slimy maybe, but that is politics.