Politics in Seattle

In this blog I have sometimes moved beyond travel and observing the surroundings while walking with my little dog but I haven't touched on politics much. So far, that is.

My "Official Local Voters' Pamphlet" was delivered a week or so ago and a little later I received my ballot. I can't resist a comment or two.

For those of you who don't know, in this area we have one hundred per cent voting by mail. It has several advantages for the good people of Seattle. First it eliminates the rent paid to churches, schools and even our VFW Hall for the use of their facilities on Election Day. Second, it spreads election day out over a three-week, or so, period thus allowing activists to visit and encourage those voters who may not know the desirable way to vote. Finally, it eliminates that pesky identification question that might be raised at the polling place.

In this latter regard, I had a friend who for years bragged about voting both his own and his wife's ballot and even after his wife died he continued to vote for her until he finally died too. When they registered for absentee ballots back in the days before our universal mail-in system, he had actually signed her name then so there was no problem with forging her signature forever after. I'm sure he was probably the only one in the area who did such a thing but, just saying. . .

Back to the Voters' Pamphlet. This year of the seventeen people running for US Senator there are many claiming affiliation with the Republican, Democratic, Independent and Libertarian parties. Then there are candidates who prefer Lincoln Caucus Party, Standupamerica Party, Conservative Party and Human Rights Party.

The King County Elections Commission solicits information from the candidates to be published in the pamphlet.  This information cover five categories: Elected Experience, Other Professional Experience, Education, Community Service and Statement.

The information supplied by the candidates ranges from well thought out to forthright statements of "None" to "No information submitted" in some of the categories to, in one case, no information or photo at all submitted. I'm not sure why that last person even filed. And remember, these are just the candidates running for US Senator.

The statements range from well thought out and clearly stated to muddy, poorly stated single issue calls to action. In some cases they are not so much a call to action as just venting a pet peeve.

I suppose it doesn't make much difference what is printed in the Voters' Pamphlet since I suspect very few people actually read it. Most get their opinions handed to them from other sources, chiefly sound bites from their favorite TV channel or radio station, maybe their church leader or maybe the guy or gal or indeterminate who expounds from the other end of the bar.

I worry for the future of my country when the requirements to register to vote and to actually vote have been reduced to such a very low level. Registering to vote now doesn't require any initiative from an individual and to actually cast a vote, any warm (or even cold) body will do. No requirement to read or write or reason or think since those would all be illegal restrictions of, well, you get my drift. . .

My apologies for using up a blog post on what some would call a political rant but the way we elect our leaders in this country has degenerated into what I would call illogical at best, and criminal at worst.

But, on a brighter note, maybe there is an invisible hand (to use Adam Smith's term) that works across a society and even a civilization to mold and guide opinions regardless the intellectual capability of those opinion holders so that desires of the greater body prevail. Thinkers, writers and speakers may have a slight impact but that groundswell of desired goals may have reached a point where it is moving inexorably toward fruition.

I can only hope those goals are good for us all.