We’ve just come through another “big” general election in Pea Ridge. The turnout was sizable, with about 1,270 voters coming to the polls at the EMS Building. In addition to that local Election Day turnout, I’m sure there were several absentee voters and a considerable number of early voters from our area. As I compare elections today and elections as they used to be, the early voting is one of the new things. Early voting seems to be catching on. One of the ideas that move people to vote early is the hope to avoid the crowds and waiting lines.
Interestingly, as the idea catches on, the early voting locations are beginning to have crowds and waiting lines.
My dad was a dedicated voter who almost always voted in elections, but he would never say much about how he voted. He didn’t talk politics much, he just showed up to vote. I grew up with a family and school influence that led me to regard voting in elections as a civic duty, but not only as a duty - as one of the high opportunities we have in living in a free country. It is our way of participating in our governing, our way of being a part of government of the people, by the people and for the people. As we chose our political leaders, we never supposed that we would betelling them exactly how they should do their job;
but we voted for those we saw as persons of wisdom and integrity who could be trusted to lead.
So it is a saddening thing to me, in any election, when voter turnout is small, even if the election lacks serious contests in major races, like president, or senator or house of representatives, or state governor or city mayor. I can’t say it was greatly better in the old days. Probably there have always been “big” elections and “ho-hum” elections, some with a big voter turnout and others with a poor turnout.
But I am thinking of our soldiers in World War II and later, who put their lives on the line to protect our privilege of choosing our own leaders - how can we just sit home and gripe about the “gub-mit” or our “congressman” when we should be getting out to vote? It is a sad thing when the high-powered political advertising has to stir up people’s fears and angers to get them to come out and vote. Always our ideals as Americans is to have citizens committed to participate in government,as informed as possible on issues, sane and sound in perceptions, civil and truth-seeking in expression, and considerate of the dignity of political office and of political life.
We have never achieved those ideals perfectly, and today we seem very far from achieving them, but we keep trying.
I won’t say that politics in the old days was always clean, or always civil, or that “politicking” was always respected and welcomed. But as I remember the “old days,” we never thought about running against government, or of a candidate for office running against “politicians” and claiming not to be one himself.
The idea of a politician who claims not to be one is a weird notion. The idea that all politicians are crooks is also a weird notion, and very far from the American ideal of government. Did we have the idea of term limits in the old days? Well, yes, by the time I came along we did, at least for the office of President of the United States. But in the old days we mainly thought that if we wanted someone out of an office we could put them out by voting someone else in.
We didn’t suppose that we needed a term limits law which assumes that all office-holders become bad or unfit to serve after they gain a few years of experience. We hadsome long-serving public servants whose work we valued as leading us in improving our standard of living.
In the earlier days that I remember, there were a few “attack ads” in the newspapers, and some mudslinging in the “stump” speeches politicians gave at times, but we didn’t see then the enormous expenditures going into the lurid and misleading television attack ads which are standard fare today; nor did we have e-mail and Internet and blogs and Twitter to help us besmirch the character of our opponents. Back then we had liberal Democrats and conservative Democrats and liberal Republicans and conservative Republicans. For the most part, though not always, they tried to work together to get things done for the good of the country. I hope we can see some of that part of the good ole days again soon.
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Editor’s note: Jerry Nichols, a native of Pea Ridge, is a retired Methodist minister with a passion for history. He is vice president of the Pea Ridge Historical Society. He can be contacted by e-mail at [email protected], or call 621-1621.
Community, Pages 5 on 11/10/2010