BENTON COUNTY — This will be my last article before the primary election and decision time is less than a week away.
Early voting is reported to be fairly heavy, of course that means some people have made their decision and now will await the election results with the rest of us. They have gotten the really hard part out of the way - if they selected a Republican ballot there are a lot of names to wade through.
For those of us yet to vote, the questions begin with “paper or electronic” and get tougher from there. It is definitely an election where one wants to have seen a sample ballot before they go to the polling place.
Some of us are still struggling with the “incumbency issue” - how much experience do we want in Washington and is there any merit to the “vote them all out” mentality? Ideally we would have House and Senate candidates who don’t want to make careers out of Washington politics either in elected office or as lobbyists. They then would not fear term limits, would recognize that lobbyists fit lower on the popularity pollthan cancer, and value their integrity and their family more than money. Then a wholesale change in our way of governing would bring about the prospects for meaningful legislation.
While researching some senators’ Web sites for last week’s article on candidates of Independent party affiliation - Florida Governor Crist’s decision to seek Florida’s U. S. Senate seat as an Independent prompting the search - I found a very interesting quotation.
There is a senator from Vermont who is listed as an Independent Democrat named Bernie Sanders. In an article found through his Web site links and written/ published by the Burlington Free Press, this statementis attributed to Sen. Sanders: “The world inside the Senate is very, very far removed from the reality of people’s lives. I believe very strongly that a member ofCongress can become very much an inside-the-beltway creature and can very easily forget the values of people who make less than $8 an hour and can’t afford to sent their kids to college.”
It is interesting to note that he served in the House for 18 years before running for the Senate. He titled his autobiography “Outsider in the House” and is quoted in the Burlington Free Press article as saying he “doesn’t want to get too comfortable in the Senate’s marbled meeting rooms.” He goes home to Vermont nearly every weekend and continues to hold frequent town hall meetings where people can ask questions and share what’s on their minds.
Different states have varied population centers, areas to cover in size and demographics, but this senator’s example would sure be an excellent yard stick to use to size up the candidates we are considering in our Arkansas primary for both parties.
The power positions in both the House and Senate are the ones that need to be changed and they are held by persons in other states.
Since we don’t get to vote on their return to office, the next best thing is to be sure our choices here in Arkansas are capable of standing up to them and the lobbyists who will do whatever is necessary to influence their votes.
It is going to be interesting to see what effect the groups such as the Tea Party and Independence Caucus can have on the election process. Never have I seen so many forums or political meetings putting the candidates before the public eye. In my opinion it goes beyond just the number of people running and actually demonstrates a sincere desire on the part of a serious voting block to help us make the best choices when we go to the polls.
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Leo Lynch, a native of Benton County has deep roots in northwest Arkansas He is a retired industrial engineer and former Justice of the Peace. He can be contacted at [email protected]. The opinions of the writer are his own, and are not necessarily those of The TIMES.
Opinion, Pages 4 on 05/12/2010