Why elections matter
This won’t be my usual community chat. As I write this, the polls have opened on Election Day and, I hope, voters are streaming in. While certainly this election feels extremely urgent for some of us, the truth is that they are all urgent. Every one. Voting is a sacred duty and an immense privilege and I certainly hope you all took advantage of it.
It’s easy to be jaded — I’m in the news business, believe me, I know jaded — but you can’t let that stop you. Maybe you win, and maybe you don’t, but as long as you vote, you at least are trying. You are at least a part of the process and hopefully, part of the solution.
Plus if you don’t win, you at least have the right to complain about the state of things. If you don’t vote, you forfeit your ability to complain.
Locally, we had historic numbers of candidates in both town council and school board races. I’m always surprised at the vitriol you see in those races, because local politics is a pretty thankless task. The people who run truly do it out of love of their community. You may not always agree with their conclusions, but it’s foolish to think their heart isn’t in the right place.
And I’m speaking here as someone who sits through town council, school board and planning commission meetings on a fairly regular basis. Believe me, no one is doing that unless they really care about their community. Nothing says “party” like a 27 slide PowerPoint on budgets delivered in a stuffy room at 9:45 p.m. on a weekday.
As a Californian and a Sonoma County-an, it’s hard sometimes not to feel a bit disconnected from the larger statewide and national races since, generally, the outcomes here are pretty much a foregone conclusion. But that’s where it’s important to fight against that jaded apathy thing again. It’s still important to use your voice and your vote.
Though I grew up here, I lived in northern Virginia for 13 years, just outside of Washington DC. When I moved there, it was a deep red district, when I left it had become purplish blue and now it’s fairly reliably blue. Point being, in politics, as in all things, change is the only constant. If you want a say in that change, then participate, vote and raise your voice.
Otherwise you’re just an ant standing on a truck tire, and the tire is starting to roll.
So, if your candidate(s) won, congrats! I hope they deliver on the promises that made you pick them. If they lost, sorry about that. But hey, at least you voted, so let the complaining begin.
Heather Bailey is the editor of The Windsor Times.
