Life comes complete with many “what ifs.” Most of the time, we ruminate on things past, as in “What if I wouldn’t have looked across the street and saw you in the window?” or “What if we had decided to take the job offer in Omaha instead of Cape May, think how different life might have been?”
As President Abraham Lincoln stated on that desolate Gettysburg battlefield cemetery being dedicated Nov. 19, 1863, “Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.”
The nation teeters from left to right. Daily we hear sworn officials acting in their own best interests instead of putting the work of “the people” in first order.
The “civil war” in which we are now engaged is a war of mediocrity; a battle that could ultimately spell the course of the county, state and nation. How many warrior voters are simply fed up with politics that are being portrayed each and every day? How many of them are so disenchanted that they have already decided not to vote?
My granddaughter, still in those tender teen years, opined at the dinner table last week that she has absolutely no interest in politics or elections. What good does it do? What difference does it make, she voiced. Maybe her stance will change in time as she sees the worth of the vote she will be able to cast.
Regardless of the future, her declaration was a telling one, and portrays the sentiment of many teens that will, in a few short years, be the ones heading into voting booths and making decisions that will affect them greatly. To say there is no interest in politics or the electoral system is the result of the drama that has been portrayed to the next generation. They see nothing virtuous, only squabbling and haggling over inconsequential matters while the important work of government rests on its haunches.
To a veteran, my granddaughter’s remark was like a volley fired by the foe. Who needs freedom to vote for representatives? Why did we bother to go to war so many times to protect freedom for people to decide their political courses?
It was off the coast of Vietnam as rockets fired on distant mountains that I, aboard a minesweeper, vowed to participate in every election from school board and fire election to presidential races. I believed it would be important to vote, even if I voted for a loser. Believe me, I have cast my vote for some of them, too, but at least I cast a ballot.
Next Tuesday, Nov. 3, people who are registered voters of Cape May County will be afforded the opportunity to cast a vote. Regrettably, there aren’t many choices. However, the races that are open for a decision are important both to the district and in municipalities. This is no time to stay seated and let the next guy do the voting.
What if there was a rebirth of interest in an old political party or maybe even a new one; what if young people were reinvigorated and wanted to take part in the electoral process?
What if they had a vision that got them fired up, a vital long-range plan that would shake this county and district to its roots, and set the course for a better future? Suppose they said, “We think we have the answers that will make Cape May County a dynamic place, and we’re going to put our name on the ballot?”
I chatted briefly with one elected official recently, and asked how a certain campaign was going. He replied it was going well, and that there were many signs all around town, in yards and along byways. “Yes,” I reminded him, “But signs don’t win an election. You have to get the people out to vote. All the signs in the world don’t count on election night; only numbers from a voting machine do the trick.”
That brings me back to my granddaughter’s sentiment about lack of interest in voting and the electoral process. How important is it to the average Cape May County voter to get out and make their mark on Election Day?
Long-time readers know I have already cast my ballot. As soon as it was received in the mail, my ballot was returned. Then, because of a fluke in the ballot’s printing, mail ballot voters had to cast a second ballot, although only one will be counted.
What if voters were even too lazy to request a ballot be sent to them so they could vote in the privacy of their home? What excuse would they have when the outcome of the election went the wrong way? Who will they have to blame but themselves?
There have been local elections decided by very few votes, so few that it took a recount to verify the result. What if those few voters felt they had no value and said, “The heck with politics, what good does my vote do anyway?”
What if there were no elections and we simply had to be satisfied with a blood-line ruler? What if that blood-line ruler was a tyrant and decided he wanted triple the tax? What if he decided that he was “the law” and that it was “play by my rules or you’re dead?”
What if that had been our lot instead of having the notion that the people should decide who would run their government?
What if we had no say in government, would that satisfy the masses? Are we reaching that dangerous point?
Right now, voters do have a say. They have a vote. Vote and hope your one vote makes a big difference.
