Civics 101

Having nothing better to do and Faye having nothing better to do, we went to a political event Monday evening. They also offered free hot dogs which took care of dinner and, I suspect, was the reason Faye wanted to go.

Have you ever been to one of these events? This one had most of the local candidates vying for the opportunity to run in the general election in November. This event was called "meet the candidates" and was put on by the Republican Women's Club of Highlands County. I found it interesting.

Political primaries are where most candidates actually win the seat they seek. I know that is not the way it is supposed to be but that's the way it seems to work these days. Much depends upon where you live and the political division involved. When we lived in Jacksonville, the Democratic Party primaries ruled. Whoever won the nomination won the election. Here, whoever wins the Republican Party primary wins the general election.  In Jacksonville, Republicans felt disenfranchised and here I suspect the Democrats feel the same. Some districts have open primaries when there are no candidates in the other major party. In other words when the winner of one party's primary will run unopposed in the general election.

As the candidates spoke, most all stated that the crowd was the largest they had spoken in front of. I was stunned. There couldn't have been a hundred people there and 15 of these were candidates and their spouses or connected to the various campaigns. If I had been a candidate, I'd have praised those in attendance and then asked "Now, where the heck are your neighbors???"

As I was chatting with one of the candidates for nomination for the office of County Supervisor of Elections, I liked something she said. She wanted to visit high schools in the area (we have three... it's a small county) and talk to the students in the last couple of years of school about registering to vote and about actually voting and also about being educated about the issues and candidates.

I was struck by this because I looked around and saw very few people under the age of SS and Medicare.



Did I learn anything at this event? Did it help me understand the issues and get a clearer view of the candidates? Not so much. Did it help me get a better understanding of why this country is in trouble?


What do you think?