Can you feel it? The electricity in the air? The excitement? The anticipation? It can only mean one thing. PRIMARY DAY!!!
Yeah, right. Have you ever voted in a primary? If you have, good for you….but you don’t have much company. No matter how big the race, a small percentage of the voters vote in primaries. People complain….we don’t like our elected officials, we don’t like the candidates….but let me do the soapbox thing for a minute. IF YOU DON’T VOTE, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO COMPLAIN!
Case in point, Buffalo. The Democratic primary for mayor went from slam dunk for Mayor Brown to an actual race between him and Councilman Mickey Kearns. Nothing like a good scandal….or dirty politics, depending on which side you believe….to make things interesting. And since there’s no Republican candidate this year (that’s a whole other commentary some other time) if Brown wins, it’s over. If Kearns wins, there’s still a race in November because Brown is on two other party lines.
Despite all that….despite the stories, the accusations, the questions….how many people will vote? If voter turnout is 25%, which is high for a primary, less than 30,000 people could decide the next mayor of the city.
I won’t predict the results, but I will make these two predictions. Not enough people will vote, and people who didn’t will piss and moan about the guy who won.
Yeah, right. Have you ever voted in a primary? If you have, good for you….but you don’t have much company. No matter how big the race, a small percentage of the voters vote in primaries. People complain….we don’t like our elected officials, we don’t like the candidates….but let me do the soapbox thing for a minute. IF YOU DON’T VOTE, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO COMPLAIN!
Case in point, Buffalo. The Democratic primary for mayor went from slam dunk for Mayor Brown to an actual race between him and Councilman Mickey Kearns. Nothing like a good scandal….or dirty politics, depending on which side you believe….to make things interesting. And since there’s no Republican candidate this year (that’s a whole other commentary some other time) if Brown wins, it’s over. If Kearns wins, there’s still a race in November because Brown is on two other party lines.
Despite all that….despite the stories, the accusations, the questions….how many people will vote? If voter turnout is 25%, which is high for a primary, less than 30,000 people could decide the next mayor of the city.
I won’t predict the results, but I will make these two predictions. Not enough people will vote, and people who didn’t will piss and moan about the guy who won.
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