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Your Vote Still Matters
Posted
3-13-2000
The choices for President from each major party were confirmed this week
with Super Tuesday's results. Al Gore pitched a shutout to Bill Bradley and
George W. Bush beat John McCain everywhere that mattered. Bradley and McCain
have now dropped out. So four weeks before Pennsylvania's primary election
the choices are in place for President. Will that consequence effect the
turnout in Pennsylvania? Should we look at moving our primary earlier in the
year, or does it really matter in the larger scheme of things?
The later date of our primary
prohibits Pennsylvanians from having a role in selecting the major parties'
choices for President. It also may have a modest affect on voter turnout.
Couple the resolution of the major parties choices for President with the
fact that many candidates are unopposed in the primary and we shouldn't
expect too large a turnout this year. I'm not sure if moving up the date to
Super Tuesday or sooner would effect turnout as much as some competition in
races for the Legislature and the State Senate. I don't know if the US
Senate race, even with a local candidate will get people out in big numbers.
I hope for Ron Klink's sake that happens in Western Pennsylvania and not
Eastern Pennsylvania.
Actually moving the date of
the primary forward aids incumbents more than challengers. It is very
difficult to organize efforts quickly as a challenger and I know from
experience, it helped me to have a primary in the third week of May when I
was a challenger. The date of the primary didn't matter to me as much when I
was an incumbent. I was in better shape organizationally and financially as
an incumbent.
So we Pennsylvanians don't
really get to vote for McCain or Bradley. Does it really matter? The final
choices are a consequence of a number of state primaries. We may have seen
the candidates in Pennsylvania more often, but our state alone wouldn't have
changed the outcome. If we are looking at what is best for the democratic
process, keeping the primary in April at least gives candidates some time to
prepare early in the year. If we move the primary too far forward, to say,
February, we would have people campaigning in the fall of the preceding year
before that year's election is over. Also, it would be harder for
challengers to organize campaigns and perhaps cause more incumbents to run
unopposed.
I think Pennsylvanians will
have to get active and vote even if their presidential choices have been
made. There are many other important races such as the US Senate, Attorney
General, and a number of races for the State House and Senate. I hope people
do not look at the results of Super Tuesday and the identification of Al
Gore and George W. Bush as an excuse to stay home. Let's exercise our right
to vote. |
