You hire a handyman or contractor to do work on your property, and he does a terrible job. Despite your frustration over his shoddy work, would you keep hiring him to do more work for you simply because he is a nice guy?
Most likely, you just said, “No!” You would not put up with shoddy work. Doing so would be contrary to your interests and would not be good stewardship of your money or your property.
Yet many people vote for a local candidate for political office simply because the candidate is a nice person. Perhaps it is someone you know from church, charity events, a community organization, local sports, or your neighborhood. It might even be a smiling candidate who seems friendly because he posts Facebook pictures of every restaurant, store, and event he visits while out campaigning.
Voting for someone because he or she is likable is fine if you are electing “Miss Congeniality,” but it is a terrible way to elect people to political office.
What you will find is that most politicians are outgoing and generally pleasant to visit with. However, some of those nice people support policies with which you may strongly disagree.
Maybe the nice guy from your neighborhood is the better candidate—or maybe not.
You are not turning your back on a friend when you reject them as a candidate, and there is no reason to dislike them personally. Pick the best candidate the same way you would pick the best handyman or contractor.
That requires a little research. Otherwise, your vote is no different than picking a name out of a hat. You must look past the vague political catchphrases listed on campaign cards, just as you would want to know more about a handyman than what appears on a nice business card posted at your favorite café.
A great tool for learning about current Arkansas state Senators and Representatives is the Conduit for Commerce Scorecard. You don’t even have to rely on how Conduit scored the legislators because the bottom half of the report shows how they voted on a list of economic issues. This tool is directed at conservative voters, but the list of votes is useful even if you are a big-government liberal.
The Republican and Democratic primary elections for 2026 will be held on March 3, with early voting beginning on February 17. Now is the time to start learning about candidates—and to share that information with others.
