Soon, we’ll vote in the most crucial election in anyone’s lifetime. Cliché sounding since every election is crucial –- it’s just that some are more crucial than others.
Voting is sacred to me. Before he could walk, I used to take my oldest son, now a 31-year-old army senior non-commissioned officer, with me into the voting booth. As we flipped the old-fashioned levers for candidates and issues, I told him of the importance of every vote and what it means to live in a free and democratic society and the cost in blood, toil, tears, and sweat to keep it.
By the time this is published, many will have already voted, at their kitchen table or in front of the TV, by absentee ballot. I regard this as unhealthy from a community standpoint and for democracy as a whole.
Actually going to the polling place is a miniscule effort. Yet when you multiply it times the nation’s eligible voters, it’s a massive, powerful, and deeply symbolic force — the people speak collectively to decide who among them shall lead.
From the time an absentee ballot is cast until Election Day, a lot can happen that could change a voter’s mind — nothing like electoral buyer’s remorse to make you wish you had your absentee ballot back.
Those who read my columns know that I’m as conservative as you can get. My ballot reflects that, but I’m not mindless about it –- Brian Sonntag has done a good job as Washington State Auditor despite being a Democrat. And recent KIRO-TV revelations suggesting that Republican Secretary of State Sam Reed deliberately avoided purging convicted felons from voter rolls gives me pause as to whether I should vote in his re-election contest at all.
And the race for Superintendent of Public Instruction? How about a third choice between incumbent Terry Bergeson and challenger Randy Dorn: eliminate the office.
In my book, Republican Toby Nixon, running to reclaim his 45th District legislative seat and Democrat Deb Eddy, running for re-election in the 48th District, are exceptional public servants –- and friends.
When making up my mind I have some guiding principles. Which candidate shares my passions for individual liberty (including economic liberty) and limited, transparent government? Which ballot measures promote liberty by holding taxes in check or reducing them?
Because government is the servant, not the master, I listen for clues from candidates indicating they get it. Many, though not all, Republicans do, most Democrats, however, do not.
For most Democrats, we along with Toledo, Ohio’s newly famous Joe the Plumber – exist to cough cash to be “spread around” to others, including (especially?) dangerously powerful public sector unions whose members’ dues are then used to lobby for larger, more expensive government.
My recent encounter with a member of the Washington State Transportation Commission is a case in point. He was ranting about the dire effects of Initiative 695, passed overwhelmingly by voters in 1998, which replaced the exorbitant value-based motor vehicle excise tax with $30 car tabs.
He was also adamant about not trying to change costly, counter-productive state employee union contracts –- it’s not a “political reality.”
Blaming I-695 and its sponsor, Tim Eyman, for the woes that have befallen Washington State transportation infrastructure, he neglected to recall how, after the Washington Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional, the Democrat-controlled Legislature and Democrat Governor Gary Locke quickly re-enacted it.
When I told the commissioner that I was a Tim Eyman fan who supports his measures, he became red-faced and angry, declaring, “Then you and I have nothing in common to talk about!”
What an ultimate disconnect. And a validation of my belief that those who push large, expensive and intrusive government have little, if any, regard for the liberties and rights of the people. Or for the wisdom we express at the ballot box.
