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 Where’s the Beef?
by Tom Campbell
May 5, 2010
According to the so-called political experts, voters going into the May 4th primary elections were angry and disliked both the direction our state was taking as well as the elected officials of both parties who were leading our state. One would have expected this unrest to have been evident in the election but looking at the outcome we find ourselves wondering, like that little old lady in the old Wendy’s ads, where’s the beef?
There were a few upsets in the elections but not many. Democrats will stage a runoff in the US Senate race. None of the Congressional members had serious challenges and no incumbent State Senator lost in the primaries. Five members of the NC House lost their challenges, four Democrats and one Republican. Two Sheriffs and at least one District Attorney lost re-election bids but these numbers are well within normal ranges for primary elections.
A pitiful 14 percent of the registered voters showed up at the polls. That’s not the worst turnout for primary elections but it isn’t far from the low of 12 percent, recorded in 2006 when about half the legislative seats weren’t contested. To be sure the election that really counts will be held in November but with so much reported unhappiness you would have thought a larger percentage would have voted. Were people misleading the pollsters and are basically happy, is their unhappiness mostly over national issues or have we reached a point where we would just prefer to complain?
There is an irony to this civics lesson, as many folks in Wake County can testify. In last fall’s school board elections few voters went to the polls. The large majority of voters in each district stayed home. In this low percentage turnout the few who voted elected four new board members who, coupled with one incumbent, have radically changed the state’s largest school district. Vocal protesters pack the room at every school board meeting but their protestations are overruled by the new majority on the board. That’s the way our system of government works. People who show up to vote have a voice and the fewer who show up the more important that voice becomes. Those they elect make the decisions.
This brings us back to our opening question. Where’s the beef? If people are truly upset we would expect their emotions to translate into actions, specifically voting. There were some important elections and a large vote, even if only incumbents were returned, would have sent a clear message to elected officials that people were engaged and participating in the process. But this didn’t happen. Maybe folks just prefer complaining. We will know for sure after November’s General Election. |
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