Archive: Opinions

After interviewing Tompkins County Legislature Chairwoman Martha Robertson on her congressional run this week she asked me what my take is on the Lansing race.  The two Lansing candidates have each served one term on the Legislature.  I told her that if people look at the two candidates' records of accomplishment one would be an obvious choice.  But if people don't look at their records the seat could go to either one.

That is the crux of American elections, isn't it?  In civics class we think about an informed electorate thoughtfully electing the best people to represent us.  But be honest -- how many times have you found yourself in the voting booth and picked a name you knew nothing about either because they are in the same party as you, or because they simply have a nice name?  Or because they are the second choice and the one you voted for in the previous line on the ballot was the first listed?  So I am advocating staying away from the polls if you haven't had the time or taken the time to find out what the candidates will really do and stand for.

Since I saw a 2012 Gallop poll rating the ethical standards of people in various professions (and yes, journalists didn't rank high, I know, I know!  We were around the middle of the chart.), I have been thinking about why on the one hand we have such low esteem for our elected officials when we are the ones who elected them.  The lowest ranked profession was car salesmen.  The second to lowest was members of congress.  Sixth to lowest was senators.

Some of these elected officials are earnest hard workers who aren't afraid to cross the political aisle to come up with solutions to issues that impact everybody.  Unfortunately they are overwhelmed by others who sem to be playing a game of political dodge ball, playing ruthlessly to win, no matter the consequences to citizens like you and me.  Case in point is the government shutdown that lasted two weeks this month.

So how come those guys got elected?  Did voters take the time to learn about their records?  Or was it a matter of seeing negative ads about their opponents that were worse than their opponents' negative ads about them?  Or was it people voting a party line?  Or just picking the nicest sounding name?

It should be so hard to learn about local candidates.  For this year's local election click here to see our interviews in which we ask the various candidates for Lansing Town Board and Lansing Representative to the Tompkins County Legislature the same questions, and let you compare their answers.  You can go further than that, at least with those who have already served, to see the minutes of meetings in which they actually voted.  They're posted on the Town and County Web sites.  Match that up to what they say they stand for, and add that to your deliberation.

That's the only way we're going to get the best representation.  It doesn't have to do with politics.  It has to do with the work our representatives will actually do -- or not do.  Philosophy certainly has something to do with it, but political bullet points are only part of what makes god representatives.

I always thought in civics class that our Washington representatives were well respected people who made our country great.  We're not feeling so great any more, and perhaps it's our own fault.  Voting is a privilege, and the old adage that people who don't vote get the government they deserve is even more true for people who abuse it by making uninformed votes.  At least when the uninformed don't vote the people who do know what the candidates actually stand for get to determine who will represent us.  it may be a guess, but it's an educated guess.  It's when an election is littered with uninformed votes that the outcome becomes random.

Think about that on November 5th.  If you haven't had the time or interest to learn about candidates for one seat or another I urge you not to vote for that position.  You would be doing your community and yourself a big favor by not voting, and perhaps we will actually get representation that will make our lives actually better and bring those respect numbers higher on the chart.

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