During the 1960 presidential campaign, John F. Kennedy spoke passionately about the need for a Civil Rights Act. Kennedy received more than 70 percent of the black vote, but he did little to advance civil rights during his first two years in office. Was he distracted by Cuba and the Soviet Union, or was his civil rights passion mostly a ploy for the black vote? Historians still debate this.

As one election season follows another, voters have to discern whether candidates make bold moves – and bold promises – because it’s the right thing to do or because it will get them elected. Recently, Gov. Chris Gregoire announced an $8.2 million plan to improve the monitoring of the Washington’s sex offenders. Republican Dino Rossi, who ran against Democrat Gregoire in 2004, and is running against her again, called the announcement “more political gymnastics.”

In the presidential race, candidates are outlining ways to revamp health care. Is it because the system is so broken – nearly 45 million people lack health insurance – or because health care is one of the hot issues in the 2008 campaign? Are the health care plans “more political gymnastics” or good-faith attempts to solve an enormous societal oversight?

Voters can begin the discernment process by first accepting that politics/political/politicians are not negative words. Politics is the way societies get things done.

Politics forces to the surface important societal concerns. Political campaigns jump-start the debates that need to happen to change society. In the late 1950s, racial inequity was a verboten topic in some communities. Making it a 1960 campaign issue forced race issues closer to the surface of the nation’s consciousness – and conscience.

The current candidates for president have proposals for handling the health care crisis. Republican Mike Huckabee, for instance, would encourage citizens to buy private health insurance by offering tax deductions and tax credits. Democrat Joe Biden would expand Medicaid and SCHIP programs to cover every uninsured child. To stay competitive, the presidential politicians have to offer detailed solutions. But pieces of their health care proposals might someday translate to a workable solution. What began in politics could become the right thing to do for the nation’s uninsured.

Politics takes a turn for the negative when citizens detach from the political process, out of apathy or cynicism. To get their attention, politicians use 30-second commercials. To neutralize the negativity, citizens must do research beyond the sound bites. In-depth information is available everywhere now. For instance, the Kaiser Family Foundation offers detailed, but user-friendly, comparisons of all the candidates’ health care initiatives at www.kff.org.

Get engaged in politics. It gives you the power to change things for the better, from righting racial inequities to fixing a health care system.