We can’t put it off any longer... time to vote

Where oh where have all the voters gone? According to the county elections office, only 1,125 Fayette residents cast ballots during the first five weeks of early voting for the July 20 primaries.
As elections superintendent Tom Sawyer put it, “That’s the number we usually see in a day in some of our busy election years.”

Fayette typically boasts a turnout rate far above the state average. So what is keeping us from the polls this cycle?

There are several theories floating around the office here at Fayette Newspapers. One is that folks just aren’t used to voting in the summer. People are on vacation and so are their minds. Congress and the Supreme Court are both in recess. The Tea Parties have simmered down a bit and many typical voters just aren’t that interested.

Another theory has to do with the length of the ballot itself. With a huge slate of statewide offices up for grabs and not a lot of familiar incumbents running for re-election, voters are feeling overwhelmed. For instance, those of us taking Republican ballots this time around have to choose one of nine candidates for Insurance Commissioner, and that’s just one of many crowded down-ballot races.

And finally, the television presence has been subdued -- at least until this week. With fundraising down across the board, many campaigns have been saving their precious few TV. ad dollars for the home stretch. Maybe now that we’re being bombarded with ads, we’ll actually get out and vote.
I think there’s some truth to all three of those explanations.

However, it also does not help that at the top of the tickets, neither side boasts a particularly energizing figure. While Roy Barnes has name recognition as a former governor, he has excited Democrats not because he’s bringing great new ideas to the table. Folks are reluctantly getting back onboard the old Roy train because he looks like he has a decent shot at winning -- especially when compared to the seven Republican challengers who are currently pummelling each other to face him.

The governor candidates on the GOP side leave a whole lot to be desired.
A year and a half ago, it looked like the Republican primary for governor would be the heavyweight title bout for the keys to the Mansion on West Paces Ferry.

But then our popular Congressman Lynn Westmoreland decided not to run. Shortly after, Georgia’s powerful Lt. Governor Casey Cagle dropped out of the race.

None of the remaining frontrunners -- Former Sec. of State Karen Handel, Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine, Former State Senator Eric Johnson and Former U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal -- have managed to pull away from the pack.

All four have battled ethics problems on the campaign trail and three of the four have gone decidedly negative with their campaign ads.

I’ll give Eric Johnson credit for doing his best to remain above the childish mud-slinging, but it’s awfully hard for me to get excited about a candidate who once staked his political future on the terribly short-sighted education “solution” of school vouchers. Johnson also gave disgraced former House Speaker Glen Richardson a free pass as head of the Joint House and Senate Ethics Committee.

The polls close Tuesday at 7 p.m. It’s time to hold my nose and choose one of the four frontrunners, or go with one of the dark horses.

Of the three also-rans, State Rep. Jeff Chapman has the best shot at pulling off an upset. I don’t necessarily agree with everything the earnest Brunswick native has said on the campaign trail, but he is the one true competent, ethics-championing outsider in this race.
I’m leaning toward Chapman today, but I haven’t completely made up my mind.

And for those completely disgusted with the field of candidates the Republicans have lined up for the state’s top office, there’s always Otis Putnam. Also a native of Brunswick, Mr. Putnam listed his job as “Walmart” on his qualifying papers. An everyman outsider with little support outside of his own extended family, Putnam is improbably still in this race. Even if he pulls in just a couple thousand votes, the party leaders in this state should get the message. Putnam is this cycle’s protest vote.

Still, the key is to get out and actually vote. Who we choose next week will directly impact our lives -- especially when it comes to the local offices.

I don’t think it is all that widely known that three important local positions will be decided in this Republican Primary. July 20 will be our only chance to vote for two county commission seats and one school board post. None of those three races have Democratic challengers in the fall. Even if you leave all of the other fields blank, ask for a Republican primary ballot Tueday and help decide who will lead our county for the next four years.