BENTON COUNTY — When one passes the age of 70, one starts to view life differently, I think. When you have gone even further into the golden years and have been blessed to pass the age of 75, it is easy for one’s thoughts to go from anticipation of the future to reflections of what you have observed in those fleeting years. As a result of some of my history, political elections bring out an abundance of memories of personal participation in my own and other’s campaigns, as well as the good and the bad of the election results.
Finding time to evaluate the candidates in every political position is almost impossible when young people (less than 65 years of age) have so many demands on their time. Our household has literally been bombarded with mailed literature from individuals seeking offices from Arkansas Supreme to local district Justice of the Peace - and every position in between. Add to those mailings, which probably amount to a stack at least one inch in height if they were all in one stack, newspaper advertising, radiocommercials and television ads, and there is an abundance of information available. And for the more social networking literate, add Facebook, text messaging, computer websites and those meal time telephone calls. It is not easy being a candidate NOR a voter, these days.
Hopefully we have prepared ourselves for the current elections because the consequences of unpreparedness can be great if we consider the responsibilities of these offices.
Having said that, I know we don’t always know we have made a bad choice until the elected individual has been in the position for a period of time. A person elected for two years is upfor re-election quickly, but a person elected for six years comes under a lot less pressure in those first two years. And, any mistakes are less likely to be remembered six years later.
Because we have so manychoices about entertainment today, I can’t help wondering if that doesn’t affect the ability of couples with young families to devote time to the political process as educated voters - educated in the sense of knowing the potential of the candidates as well as their shortcomings. My sons and their families live in another state, so there are no opportunities to see their soccer games, baseball, football or other sports events, or even participate in my granddaughter’s dance recital. The grandchildren graduate from various educational levels without a grandfather’s presence. And, truthfully, I miss being a part of their lives. However, if they were closer it would be much more difficult for me to write these articles, meet the candidates for office, even get involved in campaigns for some - and it is doubtful that I would have been a candidate for Justice of the Peace or County Judge with them close by.
We have been able to attend forums to evaluate candidates when there were at most two dozen non-candidates present, and mostof them were family of the candidates themselves.
A number of people have discussed candidates with my wife, Dorothy, and me, and hopefully we have been a benefit in helping them look at certain issues more clearly. We all have a great deal at stake in any election cycle and it is truly rewarding to discuss politics with a well informed, genuinely concerned, voter.
Most of all, however, we feel truly blessed to be physically able and (hopefully) mentally capable of being involved in this sacred American process of electing our leaders. It is my prayer that we will see, in my lifetime, less emphasis on the effect of wealth on the election process and more dedicated candidates rising to fill vacancies in political leadership roles.
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Editor’s note: 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 05/23/2012