It seems like the Presidential election has been going on forever. It seems these days that they start as soon as they end. Truth be told, they start before they end as people find themselves jockeying for position years in advance. It is sometimes hard to keep the electorate interested, and the demand of the 24 hour news cycle requires a candidate to be constantly exciting or face being forgotten behind the latest flavor of the minute.
After months of primaries and countless debates, the campaign for one party’s nominee functionally came to an end a couple of weeks ago. That leaves many states yet to vote with little or nothing to vote on when their late scheduled primaries finally come around. The voters in these particular states are just like a football player put into a lopsided game with only seconds left to go: Nothing they do really matters or can make a difference.
Tennessee got to “play” while there was still a game. They got to vote on the big day, and there was a lot of excitement left in the race. The guy that took the most votes ultimately left the game, but Tennessee really got to “play.” Arkansas, on the other hand, votes next Tuesday, and there is not a lot of interest being shown by the masses for a presidential primary that has no hope of making a difference in races that are long ago decided. That leaves only the die hard primary voters and those with personal interest in the few races that are on the ballot to do the voting.
Even though the primaries for the presidential races are all decided, there are some judicial races and a few legislative primaries left to be decided around the state. Overall, early voting in Pulaski County has been very low. That means that a handful of voters will make very important decisions for everyone else. It is rare that a few like-minded people could make a such a difference in a race. That means that races that would be expected to go to a run off could be decided Tuesday if specific segments of voters get out and vote.
In the past, I have endorsed and promoted candidates in this column. I have encouraged people to take a stand or vote a certain way if it was something I believed in. At first, I was going to do the same for this election since I know all of the candidates in one particular race and the choice is so obvious. I asked Patti what I should do, and she told me that it would be improper to promote her campaign in the column. I disagreed, but Patti is always right.
Ultimately, it is a shame that we have the low levels of voting we have in this country. There is a lot of complaining by a lot of people that don’t make it to the polls. Patti says that a vote is a terrible thing to waste, and Patti is always right - that is easy to see even way up in the CHEAP SEATS!
Bill James is a criminal defense lawyer and co founder of the James Law Firm with offices in Little Rock, Conway, and Fayetteville, Arkansas. He can be contacted at Bill@JamesforJudge.com.