Primary Election Day!
Today is Primary Election Day, a day when less than 20% of the eligible voters of the state of Indiana have turned out to cast their ballots. It is a shame that Indiana citizens, like the citizens of most states, have been conned into subsidizing party candidate selection. Were you aware of that?
If you've followed my good friend Mike Kole's web site, you certainly are. He's made it a cornerstone issue of his campaign to run for Indiana Secretary of State. As he's pointed out in his radio commercial, Libertarians don't make the taxpayers pay for their candidate selection. The Libertarian Party is nice that way, but this isn't a campaign ad for Mike (well, it's a small one).
If this were all that occurred at that time, we could feel free to ignore this day if we had no vested interest in party politics. Unfortunately, the political machine in Indiana has tied important school board elections to the Primaries race. That should be noteworthy to you for two reasons. One, you can go to the polls and without voting in the party primaries request a school board ballot. This will allow you to help decide the future of your schools. It will also allow you a say in the decision by some candidates who vocally propose raising property taxes (in an era where property tax is soaring through most of our roofs) to help fund new school initiatives. For that, at the very least you should be there to voice your opinion.
The second item of note is tied to the first. Historically, turnout has gone from bad to worse for these days. Thus, school boards have become more draconian and less representative of the parents they supposedy represent and party candidate selection has turned into a rubber stamp for the majority of incumbents (being that currently all our statewide incumbents are Republican and Democrat and subject to the Primaries).
These people feel no heat on them to form their issues to truly represent their constituency because they have come to realize they do not need their constiuency to stay in power. They only have to please the diehard political machine cogs to keep the grease running and get them nominated. Once in, given that districts in most states are so gerrymandered there is no hope of a challenging party breaking in, the elected official can feel free to carry on with his or her incumbent duties and catering to special interests because, well, you proved ineffective at changing his or her mind at the polls.
The failure to teach these incumbents ultimately lies with all of us. Because we have abandoned our civic duty to vote and because life often doesn't provide us the luxury of monitoring our politicians every waking moment, we have forfeited our say, largely, in the running of the Republic. An important thing for you to do, then, as citizens of the United States, is to vote this primary season. Make the effort and learn for at least a day what your candidates have done in the past or what the new ones stand for. If they're good people, vote to keep them. If they're scumbags, send them packing and you can still vote for your preferred party if it's one of the big Two. That's your Constitutional duty today. Exercise it.
Today is Primary Election Day, a day when less than 20% of the eligible voters of the state of Indiana have turned out to cast their ballots. It is a shame that Indiana citizens, like the citizens of most states, have been conned into subsidizing party candidate selection. Were you aware of that?
If you've followed my good friend Mike Kole's web site, you certainly are. He's made it a cornerstone issue of his campaign to run for Indiana Secretary of State. As he's pointed out in his radio commercial, Libertarians don't make the taxpayers pay for their candidate selection. The Libertarian Party is nice that way, but this isn't a campaign ad for Mike (well, it's a small one).
If this were all that occurred at that time, we could feel free to ignore this day if we had no vested interest in party politics. Unfortunately, the political machine in Indiana has tied important school board elections to the Primaries race. That should be noteworthy to you for two reasons. One, you can go to the polls and without voting in the party primaries request a school board ballot. This will allow you to help decide the future of your schools. It will also allow you a say in the decision by some candidates who vocally propose raising property taxes (in an era where property tax is soaring through most of our roofs) to help fund new school initiatives. For that, at the very least you should be there to voice your opinion.
The second item of note is tied to the first. Historically, turnout has gone from bad to worse for these days. Thus, school boards have become more draconian and less representative of the parents they supposedy represent and party candidate selection has turned into a rubber stamp for the majority of incumbents (being that currently all our statewide incumbents are Republican and Democrat and subject to the Primaries).
These people feel no heat on them to form their issues to truly represent their constituency because they have come to realize they do not need their constiuency to stay in power. They only have to please the diehard political machine cogs to keep the grease running and get them nominated. Once in, given that districts in most states are so gerrymandered there is no hope of a challenging party breaking in, the elected official can feel free to carry on with his or her incumbent duties and catering to special interests because, well, you proved ineffective at changing his or her mind at the polls.
The failure to teach these incumbents ultimately lies with all of us. Because we have abandoned our civic duty to vote and because life often doesn't provide us the luxury of monitoring our politicians every waking moment, we have forfeited our say, largely, in the running of the Republic. An important thing for you to do, then, as citizens of the United States, is to vote this primary season. Make the effort and learn for at least a day what your candidates have done in the past or what the new ones stand for. If they're good people, vote to keep them. If they're scumbags, send them packing and you can still vote for your preferred party if it's one of the big Two. That's your Constitutional duty today. Exercise it.
posted by Rob Beck | 7:01 AM
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