Window on the West
by Mary Rupert
Have you heard the strange words coming out of politicians’ mouths lately?
With the presidential campaign in full swing, it often seems like we are listening to kids taunting each other on the playground, not serious candidates presenting a platform.
Many individuals are strongly backing presidential candidates, but overall, “none of the above” could be a choice of some average voters.
A Pew Research Center poll in January found that the top candidate at that time, Hillary Clinton, had only 34 percent support of voters who thought she would be a good president. The other leading candidates had even less support from voters on that question. It seems that a majority of voters at that time did not think any candidate can be a good president.
Still, Wyandotte County showed a good turnout for the presidential caucuses held Saturday, March 5. There were long lines at the various sites, showing a greater interest than 2008, according to some observers. When I dropped by for a few minutes at some caucuses, I saw long lines but I did not see any fighting, no name-calling and no taunting on the part of the people attending.
The candidates themselves, by making personal remarks instead of just sticking to the issues, may be bringing down public confidence in all politicians.
As the campaign advances, and the field of candidates narrows, we may see more confidence in the nominees, if we’re lucky. If not, we may see a lot of voters staying home.
The campaign debates, while getting more interesting, have been ugly at times, including personal attacks. Voters of all different backgrounds are doubting statements made in the campaigns.
One of the worst political statements made recently in Kansas came from Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who has been quoted by major newspapers as calling the League of Women Voters “communists” during the state Republican convention. I looked, and there is nothing in the league’s policy positions that supports taking away all the wealth from private capital, redistributing it, and turning all the private enterprises into state-owned industries. Perhaps Kobach meant some never used, small “c” interpretation of the word communist, as in community-minded?
The League of Women Voters has taken an active role in challenging Kobach’s Kansas law that requires voter identification. There are thousands of people in Kansas who tried to register to vote but whose registration was not completed, and that is something that should be addressed. I believe it is a worthy goal to increase the number of people who vote, to hold forums for the candidates and to hold voter registration drives.
Many years ago, over the past 40 years, I have met several members of the League of Women Voters, which is a nonpartisan organization. I noticed that some of them in their personal lives were Democrats and some were Republicans. But I never met one who was a Communist. They focused on goals they could all support, such as more voter education and voter registration. They were a staid group that usually was just not controversial. Without their work, we would have fewer nonpartisan public discussion forums for voters to learn about the candidates.
Once the top leaders start slinging mud, you can be sure that people down the line will try it, too. Those who pick up a few points in the polls by slinging mud at the debates may do well for a short period of time, but I doubt if it will do them any good in the long run. The more they do it, the more the public may do it, and the more people will choose “none of the above.”
To reach Mary Rupert, editor, email [email protected].