Opinion: Election over for the time-being
My favorite city to visit is damaged because of the tornado that ravished Nashville this week. Early Tuesday I received word my family, Pete and Nada Kirk and their daughter Lori and husband Van Woody, are safe. They had heavy rain and wind but that was the extent of it for them. We are truly blessed they came through it mostly unscathed.
My friends Joan and Randy Lewis, formerly of Madera, have children in Nashville and they are safe as well. Prayers for all those terrorized by the storm.
Super Tuesday has come and gone, good riddance. I’m Tami Jo Nix and I approve this message.
Here in Madera County, we used a new voting system for this election. For the first time, mail ballots were sent to all registered voters with postage prepaid on the return envelopes. Election day voter registration took place and residents could vote in person at one of seven voter centers strategically placed throughout the county.
The results will be finalized during the post-election review process known as canvass. The ballots cast in Madera County will be counted and recounted until the elections officials are satisfied all ballots have been tallied.
The staff in the Registrar of Voters’ office worked until after 11 p.m. Tuesday counting ballots and checking the equipment used. The last of the office personnel, County Clerk Rebecca Martinez and her Deputy Commissioner of Elections Stephanie Sibley drove out of the parking lot at just before 11:30 p.m.
I know this because I drove out at about the same time.
My contribution to the election process is to witness the counting process and call in the number of ballots cast to the offices of the Associated Press. In the last 20 years, this has been my cog in the wheel of machinery that is our free election system. A task I feel proud to fulfill.
I am glad to get a break from the constant bombardment of political advertising on television and radio. There should be a bit of a reprieve in California until after the conventions. The Democrats will gather July 13 -16 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and the Republicans Aug. 24 -27 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
After each party has formally selected its nominees for president and vice president the fun really begins.
I find some of my Facebook friends have extremely negative feelings about POTUS. They keep tearing him down and I keep defending him. His past is constantly being thrown in my face asking how I can support a man with so little regard for women, who is a racist, who is a criminal, etc.
I hope these people are still my friends after this is over. It isn’t important enough for me to lose friends because of politics. It remains to be seen after the elections how many people are friends and how many are merely acquaintances.
The conventional wisdom is that an incumbent has a large advantage over the challenger. I believe many of the Democratic candidates are playing the long game where they are attempting to gain name recognition to use in four years for the next election. This will be after our president has fulfilled his two terms and can’t run again.
Besides that, forevermore the losing candidates will be known as a former candidate for President of the United States. Even when they lose, that designation will be on their resume for the rest of their lives. Not as losers of the nomination but with the spin that they were candidates. Public speaking fees alone should increase because they tried and failed.
I have a certain admiration for those who run for public office especially on the state and national level. The rubbish they and their families must endure because they seek public office can be intense.
Every mistake, tantrum or blunder made by a candidate or their family has become fair game for political fodder.
Politics isn’t for the thin-skinned. Some of the most qualified people for public office refuse to run because everyone has a Fibber McGee’s closet in their family and they are unwilling to expose their loved ones to the type of scrutiny their opponents might find necessary to win.
Fibber McGee was the eponymous character in The Fibber McGee and Molly radio show that aired in the mid-20th century according to Google. The state of his closet was a running gag known to produce a noisy avalanche of items when opened.
In the days before the Internet and 24-Hour news coverage, the political game seemed more civilized. Presidents had private lives that those in the media respected.
These days the gloves have come off and the Marquis of Queensberry rules no longer apply.
Marquis of Queensberry is a code of generally accepted rules in the sport of boxing. Drafted in London in 1865 and published in 1867, they acquired this name when John Douglas, 9th Marquis of Queensberry publicly endorsed the code, also according to Google.
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Long days and pleasant nights, have a good weekend.
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Readers may contact Tami Jo Nix by emailing tamijonix@gmail.com or following @TamiJoNix on Twitter.
