Pay Attention

by , under journalism blog

We’re one month away from the mid-term elections. Candidates have been spending millions of dollars saturating the our television and radio with back to back attack ads for weeks. The choices have never been been this stark or dark. I was shocked to see a story in the Philadelphia Inquirer over weekend on why some voters in Pennsylvania are still undecided. There is no gray area in the big statewide races here for the US Senate and governor. In the senate race, there is TV doctor, millionaire Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz endorsed by Donald Trump whose position on abortion has gone from pro-choice to anti-abortion just like Trump’s. Oz didn’t live in Pennsylvania until recently so he could run and has never held political office.  The Democratic candidate is Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman. He is also the former mayor of the small western Pennsylvania city of Braddock. He wears a trade make hoodie and is accused of being soft on crime. A classic conservative versus liberal match up, and there are many other issues on which they hold polar opposite positions. How can you be undecided?

One of the most drastic choices in the country is the race for Pennsylvania governor. Republican State Representative Doug Mastriano is a Trump backed election denier. He’s supports a total ban on abortion. He says as governor he can confiscate voting machines and was at the Capitol on January 6th. State Attorney General Josh Shapiro is a moderate Democrat who’s also been a state representative, and a county commission chairman. He’s pro-choice. He empaneled a statewide grand jury that spent two years investigating child sexual abuse by priests and the cover up by senior church leaders. Despite these differences, the Inquirer story quotes three polls taken last month that shows 8%-10% of voters are undecided on whom to vote for in the senate race, and 7%-13% are undecided on the governor’s race.

Poll takers say candidates should spend the bulk of their money in the last couple of weeks before the election because voters don’t start paying attention until after Labor Day. The political division in the country has been growing more virulent since the election of Trump in 2016. It shouldn’t take an election to get people to understand what is going on around them. People are afraid to talk politics with friends and even family because there is no middle ground. Every election is critical, from state legislators, to city council to your local school board. Sixty to seventy percent of Republican candidates up and down the ballot believe the 2020 election was stolen. The Five Thirty Eight poll shows 200 Republican candidates across the country do not believe Biden is a legitimately elected president. In seven states, the Republican candidates for Secretary of State believe the 2020 election was stolen. They are the state officials who oversee elections. Some of them are making wild claims about the power they can wield over your vote. Do you know who is running for this important office in your state? In Pennsylvania, the governor appoints the secretary. Seven election deniers are running for governor. Once they’re elected and start acting crazy, it’s almost impossible to get them out of office before the next election. There is no better example then Trump.

The United States voter turnout is among the lowest in the world. The 2020 election saw a record turnout of 66.3% of voters. That was the highest in a presidential election since 1908 when it was 65.7%. Midterm voter turnout is worse, with turnout out only around 40%. That stinks. The country is swimming in dangerous waters. If you care about what kind of a country you want for you and your children, pay attention before it’s too late.

 

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