I’m a political junkie, no doubt about it. I feed off the campaigns from start to finish and never tire of listening to what one candidate or another has to say. I often waffle from one to another as far as support is concerned, but well before the general election I’ll settled on my favorites.
Wife Beverly is like a good many folks when it comes to politics. She’s aware of what’s going on, but doesn’t become keenly interested until the conventions roll around.
This week she’s watched more minute-to-minute than I have — I had to watch a bit of Red River and John Wayne Wednesday evening.
An observation she made toward the end of Gov. Mike Pence’s speech hit home. Why, she asked, do the news people have to be so negative, hang on to any little tidbit that they think might turn controversial.
Good question. Easy answer.
It’s because the 24-hour news channels, from either side of the aisle, are more about show business and ratings than they are about news. A good share of what they broadcast is opinion, fueled by leading questions.
Melania Trump’s faux pas in repeating what Michelle Obama said in similar circumstances certainly should have been reported, but why beat it to death? Some pundit from CNN challenged a Trump operative about it a day or two later. The Trump guy was probably right when he said it meant more to the two of them than anyone else. I was interested to know, but then filed it away as a misstep and not terribly meaningful in the overall scheme of things.
After this coming week’s Democrat convention, we have three months more of campaigning. I won’t hang on to every word, but I’ll listen to many.
An interesting side issue will be how effective the Libertarian candidate, Gary Johnson, will be. His polling reached into double digits this week.
LOCALLY, we’ve three GOP races to decide in Aug. 2’s primary. Three incumbents are being challenged: County Commissioner Tom Williams by Ron Ballard; Sheriff Bryan Murphy by Jared Froggatte and Kelly Zellner; County Attorney Jerry Hathaway by Linus Thuston.
Only registered Republicans will decide the races, and each should make a special effort to vote. The races’ outcomes will affect what occurs the next four years.
Advance voting is open and may be done at the county clerk’s office. Carry-out and mailed ballots also may be requested.
Democracy works best when all participate. Don’t be a slackard.
