One of the nicest surprises about Tuesday’s election in Bridgewater was the 43% voter turnout. To all of you faithful constituents out there, partisan and non-partisan alike who graced the polls with your presence, give yourselves a well-deserved pat on the back. You definitely deserve it.
There are few things better than an election where the incumbents are challenged and compelled to run hard. It sharpens everybody’s wits and clarifies the issues, giving voters a much better basis upon which to decide. Although it’s a real personal bummer for those of you candidates who didn’t make it, don’t waste any time second-guessing having entered the race, or what you might have done differently that would have made a difference.
Our system, despite all of its practical shortcomings, is based upon gutsy, aspiring office holders willing to question current political policy and practice, while risking the possibility of bruising their egos in a contest which they might lose.
The downside of our democracy is that it is often grimy, exasperating, non-responsive, inefficient and costly. Worse yet, some of it is populated with corrupt people – just pick up today’s newspaper to verify that.
Nevertheless, so far as I can see, there doesn’t appear to be any other structure of governance anywhere else than that of our U.S. democracy that’s better able to get the job done. In the end – even though at times it seems interminably long – the system seems to self-correct and to respond to the collective will of us all. The miracle is that the darn thing works at all.
No comments:
Post a Comment