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Make your voice heard

By Staff | Nov 17, 2018

We are certainly pleased with ourselves, we the voters of the United States of America, where we turned out “in force” for last week’s midterm elections.

In force.

Indeed.

If by “in force” we mean more than in the midterms of four years ago, well, then one could accept that as an accurate assessment. But if by “in force” we mean “in great numbers” or “in hordes,” as the phrase is often defined, then all we are really doing is patting ourselves on the back when we don’t deserve it.

Most numbers we’ve seen have the percentage of people who voted on Nov. 6 at around 48 percent, a number for which we should not praise ourselves but for which we should be embarrassed. Are we or are we not the world’s leading republic? Then we should act like it.

It is one thing for some elected officials to embarrass the nation, but it is quite another for the voters of the nation to do the same by acting as if we don’t care, or as if we trust that 48 percent to cast ballots that will approximate our own thinking.

“I don’t know who you are, voter who lives down the street from me, but I assume you think as I do and will vote as I would.”

That’s just silly, of course, and surely no one actually thinks that way, but it would be a better train of thought than one that leads to not caring about outcomes.

You do have a voice, and you had a voice again last week when you made many changes to your representation in New Hampshire and in many other parts of the country.

Soon comes 2020. If we are still congratulating ourselves for a 48 percent turnout after that Election Day, well. …

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