On to the General Election
Last night’s slew of primary races continued a trend that seems like it will have long-term consequences starting in November of this year. The public is tired of the status quo. That should have been apparent in 2008, but it seems like even the change candidates didn’t get the memo. Not only was there a major upset in Delaware with Mike Castle losing to Tea Party favorite Christine O’Donnell [1], DC Mayor Adrian Fenty lost his primary bid for reelection despite indications of success in improving the city’s schools. [2] This brings us to one of the things to be wary of with a “change at all costs” mentality. If you just go for “the other guy” because s/he is not an establishment candidate, you end up with a really poor candidate like Alvin Greene. For those who don’t know him, Alvin Greene is the Democratic candidate competing against US Sen. Jim DeMint in South Carolina. Alvin Greene, without really campaigning, came out of nowhere to win a decisive victory in the primary. Less than a day later, the problems began as people tried to answer the question “Who is Alvin Greene?” Alvin Greene, as people came to find out, was unemployed after being involuntarily discharged from the Army. [3] Alvin Greene, since becoming the Democratic candidate for US Senate, was indicted by a grand jury on obsenity charges. [4] The Federal Elections Commission has launched an investigation to find out where the unemployed Greene got the $10,000 to pay his filing fee to run in the first place. [5] All in all, Alvin Greene has made a race that was a longshot in any case into a “no chance at all” waste of time.
Time will tell whether O’Donnell’s campaign turns out the same way. Thus far, with her former campaign manager coming out and saying that O’Donnell used campaign funds to pay “rent and personal expenses” while not paying her staffers, it’s looking like the seat’s likely to remain in Democratic hands. [6] The furor with Washington is understandable (see pretty much any post on this blog to prove that). However, if we want to change Washington, then we have to do it wisely. Not just anyone is cut out to be a Senator or a Representative or a President. Just showing up doth not a good candidate make. I implore people in this election season, before you go to the ballot, learn about the candidates before voting. I know that sample ballots are coming out today in my district. I intend to download the list of candidates in the races I’ll be voting for, check out their websites, do some research and make my decisions that way. Just being of one party or the other or just being “the other guy” isn’t good enough for me. I believe that I and my fellow citizens deserve better. I hope you do too.
