Fired up
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The bailout vote was defeated today in Congress, and it got me fired up. My call mattered! (Well, when added to thousands of others…) Turns out that the calls made to Congress today were 9 to 1 AGAINST the bailout. How does that make you feel about the responsiveness of your Representatives?
Congressman Mike Ross voted FOR the bailout. He won’t be getting my vote in November. Unfortunately, as I did some checking, he’s running unopposed! What?! The more checking I did, the more my heart sunk.
Apparently for the people of south Arkansas, we are content with business as usual. 99% of candidates for Drew County and our region will be running unopposed this November. I have no room to gripe. My name is not on any ballot either.
I did, however, attempt to run for city council, but was told by County Clerk Lyna Gulledge that as a write-in candidate, I would not be allowed to run. The Secretary of State’s office told me differently. Lyna was supposed to call me back and let me know about some obscure ordinance that the city of Monticello had passed to prevent write-in candidates from running, but she never did. To my shame, I never followed up.
I think it’s sad that getting involved in local affairs is made so difficult. I asked several folks over the last few months if they had any idea how to “get involved,” and none knew. I would think that our city, country, state, and nation would want more people to get more involved. We desperately need a grassroots movement in this country of common-sense folks. Unfortunately, it’s not well-publicized how to get involved. (I wonder if this is because the folks already involved realize that your involvement would mean their loss of a job…)
So how am I to note vote for Mike Ross? By simply not voting for him. I wish I had a choice. I wish your name was on the ballot. I wish my name was on the ballot. Anyone but his. He has voted with his party 94% of the time. That’s too much for true bipartisan effort and well-balanced leadership.
But as I looked further, I was stunned to realize that in county and city elections, 99% of incumbents are running unopposed. I have no room to gripe. Neither do you. But maybe we’ll learn from this and begin working now to make a difference later.
- Check out this link for 2008 Drew County Elections.
- Here for 2008 Arkansas House elections. Eddie Cheatham is running unopposed.
- Arkansas State Senate Races. Jimmy Jeffress is running unopposed.
- Arkansas U.S. Senator Mark Pryor has no Republican opponent (read here); only a Green Party candidate, Rebekah Kennedy is running against him, and an Independent, Donald Lee Hamrick is also on the ballot. Hmmm.
While I don’t agree with his politics, the Daily Kos ran this article in 2005 about the shame of allowing unopposed races in elections. It’s worth thinking about.
September 29th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
a lot of folks don’t have the money to run for office. even in local elections you have to have signs, cards, etc. an incumbent has a definite advantage financially and recognitionally (i know that’s not a real word because it has a red line under it :-)
wonder how the playing field can be leveled?
September 29th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
I’ve been saying we need a grassroots effort to get common sense people in and fire all of washington for a while. Got to find a way to make it happen. I think the congressional approval rating right now will lend itself to a house-cleaning by the mid-term election.
September 30th, 2008 at 7:14 am
The Green Party has been trying hard to get the word out that out of the 120 or so races in the state 80 are unopposed. Deb McFarland (my wife - full disclosure) has ran for US Congress against Vic Snyder. Total amount spent under 1500 all personal funds. We have not taken a dime in donations. We went to county fairs and used YouTube as much as we could. Newspaper coverage? One story in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette on the day she filled. Not a word sense. Only one federal race in Arkansas is not opposed by a Green. And all the stories are the same “Mark Pryor has no Republican opponent (read here); only a Green Party candidate, Rebekah Kennedy is running against him”. People say they want change but when it is offered. They would rather see the people return to office that got us into this mess than use a vote for a “non approved” candidate. If the American People really want change then vote for anyone who is not an incumbent. SEND THOSE PEOPLE HOME.
September 30th, 2008 at 8:00 am
has anyone clicked any of the links to the bailout bill and tried to read that thing? can you imagine how much simpler the whole process would be if we swept all the incumbents out and a bunch of ordinary (read: non-lawyer) people were elected to congress? why, we’d actually be able to make sense of the garbage that gets passed into law! )and hopefully with a whole new slate of lawmakers, there’d be a lot less garbage to begin with)
September 30th, 2008 at 9:00 am
Jeff for Mayor in 2010! I’ll throw in a donation, and get the word out for ya.
September 30th, 2008 at 10:57 am
I certainly don’t encourage voting against incumbents simply because they’re already in Washington. Some are doing an incredible job and are doing all they can to stop of the tidal wave of entitlements and ignorance.
In fact, I urge you to research your candidates. Just a quick glance at Pryor’s opposition, Rebekah Kennedy’s website, is enough to persuade me NOT to vote for her either. I want change, but not insanity. Her website is a billboard for ignorance.
What I advocate is sending a strong message to your elected officials through phone calls (put them in your cell phone’s memory), letters and emails. Let them know what you think and demand an explanation for their voting records. Tell them you will NOT be voting for them again and that you will be communicating that to your family, friends, and associates. Tell people why.
Perhaps that will also encourage more of us to get involved. It is an uncomfortable feeling to wonder if the folks in elected office are there simply because others “didn’t want to get involved.” What kind of people actually make it into office? Are they leaders or simply opportunists?
September 30th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
That is so disheartening. Perhaps I will have a new career one day. From stay at home mom, freelance writer, children’s coordinator, dog rescuer and “whisperer,” to Senator Moss… hmmm, I like the sound of that. Start raising money for me now and maybe in a few years I can stand a chance. ;)
October 3rd, 2008 at 12:02 am
But in all due honesty, isn’t this the same conversation that’s been had numerous times at least over the past 5 years? The problem is that we’re STILL just talking about it.
Until WE are willing to actually get out there an attempt to make a difference, we really don’t have any right to complain. Myself, included.
I so proud of many of my friends who are right now, pounding the ‘blog highways’ and encouraging others to get involved…call their senators and congressmen. MAKE SOME NOISE! I know this is what I’m doing in my new state. This is the time, not tomorrow, now, to really make an impact in America!