She said I was No. 8 to vote.
I told her there was no way I was going to miss this vote. It’s one of only two times in my life I’ve been able to vote in a primary.
Thanks to the Lackawanna County commissioners and a local businessman, there were some countywide questions to vote on.
Ignoring the politics behind the ballot questions (let’s just suffice to say it seems to me to be more Lackawanna County politics as usual, just in different clothing), there’s the bigger issue of not being able to cast my ballot for judge, sheriff and a host of other county row offices, as well as a few municipal and school board seats.
The simple answer is, of course, I’m not a Republican or a Democrat, so I don’t get to pick who represents that party in the general election come November.
But the real answer is, actually, I’m not being allowed to truly pick my representatives in government.
Why?
Because, in a lot of these small races, the only candidates running are in one party. By the time November rolls around, I only have one choice.
The other reason has to do more with the demographics of primaries.
Ask any political science major and you’ll hear about how the “base” of the party turns out to vote at primaries.
Total countywide turnout is usually no more than 20 percent. That means the reasonable, rational candidates are shunted aside and the extremist, who matches the base’s extremist views, are the ones that make it on to the next round.
Then, who's left for me to vote for?
Partisans.
I don’t want partisans.
I’m tired of partisans.
I want compromise. That’s the way government works. In fact, loyal patriots, that’s the ONLY way it’s worked since 1787.
Why?
I answer that by quoting the great 20th Century philosopher, Mick Jagger:
"You can’t always get what you want. But if you try, sometimes, you get what you need.”
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