We’ve got voting on the brain. You don’t? Could it be because you’re amongst legions of constituents fed up with the shenanigans of a do nothing congress, a lame duck president and campaigns that hit new lows? Campaigns aren’t hitting
below the belt anymore, they’re smack in the where it hurts.
The always charming Wendy Davis took shots at a man in a wheelchair. Yikes. But there’s context, right? Ed Fitzgerald welcomes transparency until his past turns up a back seat tryst with a woman who isn’t the Missus. Bad news got worse–he is trysting with only a learner’s permit; revealing he hadn’t a license for ten years. Then there is Bruce Braley boasting of life as a farmer. Do people boast about farming? They do in Iowa and Braley shouldn’t have because he didn’t. Farm, that is.
Here at home we’ve got a case of the nasties as well. Gabby Gifford’s PAC took a mighty swing at Martha McSally claiming McSally “opposes making it harder for a stalker to get a gun.” Because people actually do that. Ducey and DuVal are still at it. If the ads are to be believed, these two have tandemly participated in hijinks of the unethical kind for the past twenty years.
Considered too close to call are 1st Congressional District Dem Ann Kirkpatrick and Republican Andy Tobin. The Republican PAC runs the ads accusing her of tantrums. They both appear to be fast tracking on the infant train. Stomach clench.
Is there a reasonable candidate of any stripe out there? As voters are we really that far apart? Except for the crazies on each end of the spectrum. Don’t try to convince–some of us don’t care for fringe. We all want the state’s coffers run in a responsible manner, a modicum of decency for the less fortunate, humane, but not preferential, treatment for those who come to our state illegally and public officials who don’t act like a jack asses in public. Is that really too much to ask?
How about state reps who remember public school funding despite the fact their children were educated elsewhere? How about some honor concerning behavior within our state house? It is a sacred, not sordid, place. You know who you are. And how about remembering the electorate need not be hoodwinked, tricked or cajoled by anything other than truth?
Pundits say Ducey’s got the lead, with Independents breaking evenly. Five of our state’s finest are considered shoe-ins. Republican Reps Paul Gosar, Matt Salmon, David Schweikert and Trent Franks and Democratic Rep Raul Grijalva are party and district faves. Pair that with heavy pockets and they have few worries.
The truly unfortunate thing is, by the time November rolls around the average voter is so tired of the rhetoric, the lies, the innuendo and the damn signs strewn about, they have little healthy debate left. Many a voter goes to the polls not for civic duty but a nod to, “Thank God it’s over.”
Candidates–do us a favor. Do what you say you will. Stop slamming the other guy. Didn’t we learn in grade school nobody feels better making others feel worse? Answer the question. Speak your mind; not the party’s. And get your damn signs off the street.
The Duchess Diaries 