Sad but true … nobody cares.

People die in countries, wishing they could elect their leaders …

… and nobody cares, here.

People do care about their pocketbooks though. Look at that fire tax that just passed in Central County. When people see their bills spike next time around, they might regret not going to the polls.

It’s because Bush was never legally elected, no one voted for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, no one voted for the Federal Reserve System, no one voted to give the same “financial wizards” that caused the Depression more money to make it worse, Obama is not even an American citizen…….

Americans think they’re still free because they can get porn whenever they want.

Purple Thumb makes some interesting points, it’s a little on the “conspiracy theory” side. My view is a little less on the “black helicopter” side. I believe it’s simply that there were no good choices. No one is excited about any of the candidates. Everyone one I talked to, in my city or others, made the same comment that they were voting for the lesser of the evils. I live in O’Fallon and our choices for Mayor where a drunk that has been on the Council for 10 years and has ties to the old corrupt administration. Another candidate that’s only backing was the current administration that has alienated more people than anyone in the history of the world (other than Hilter) and has lost countless tax payer dollars in lawsuits. The third candidate was also loosely supported by the current administration, until they threw him under the bus and jumped ship for their new pick. He also works for an O’Fallon lobbyist and can’t even keep his own family in line. That’s just for Mayor. The Council choices weren’t much better either.

So why should we come out. The citizens of the United States have shown that if there is a good candidate they will come out. If it’s more of the same or worse, they won’t. We need to start looking at low turnout as a condemnation of the candidates we are putting out.

My oh my, where should I start? Maybe the reason people didn’t turn out to vote was just because they didn’t think city government actions are important. It seems like O’Fallon has really nasty local political fights, but most seem to be based on personal animosity not real issues.

I really think that both Purple Thumb and No Good Choices need to take a vacation, or at least stop watching Fox News.

I’m guessing so few voters bother with local elections because there is little publicity for them. I didn’t even know there was a tax increase issue on the St. Charles ballot until I looked at the PD’s voter guide last week. Far as I can tell, the county government and fire distict didn’t do anything but the bare minimum to inform residents of the issue.

There were dozens of items up for vote in the county, but since most only concerned residents of O’Fallon, there was little reason of other county residents to get out. National issues are covered 24/7 by a multitude of national and local media, yet local news outlets only cover the occassional controversy or goings on in the city of St. Louis.

Easy answer. Americans for the most part would rather sit around complaining about everything than do something about it. I served my country for 11 years and vote in every election that comes by. I attend association ansd counsel meetings and take part in my community and the government. People are too busy to do their part but not too busy to complain about everything. It took me all of 10 minutes to vote on my way home from work. Yes, the choices are limited but don’t you still want your say? How many people complain about how high their taxes are but don’t show up for the vote? You know that the supporters of the taxes will be out in force. My first question to someone complaining is did you vote? If not, shut up. My next question is have you served your country in any way? If not, shut up.

Not sure about all of the counties around me, but my municipality in St Louis County had only UNCONTESTED aldermanic races. I did notice several munies close by that that large numbers of only one candidate to vote for. When there is no money involved on my ballot and only one person to vote for… what’s the point in going? If there is an actual contest, I’m there early in the day to make my voice heard.

If you don’t like what goes on, get out and VOTE…Those of us who did, care and vote to try to make changes. The sheep sit at home waiting for someone to tell them what to do.

We, the blog readers, will almost always be a part of the voting bloc. We are the information seekers. For better or for worse, we know what we know to be true and we tend to express ourselves. We also know when the elections are.

Be a right-wing-nut. Be a left-wing-loon. Be an idiotic-independent. Be something, have a position, and show up. It’s the people that don’t know where they stand that worry me.

A friend of a friend of mine actually voted for a lady because her name fit the position she was running for — sort of. Barbara Story? You got at least one vote because you were running in an education field. (Get it? Story? Reading to kids? Reading them a Story? Education? — That was the justification.)

It’s apathy. “The People” can’t be bothered to vote in municipal elections because they just aren’t “that important”. It’s not like the local races have any impact on their lives or anything.

I hate to admit it but, in private, most candidates for political office say pretty much the same thing, “The people are idiots.” For the most part, when it comes to voting, it’s true. The vast majority of people that show up at the polls have no idea what they are voting for until they see the ballot in front of them. They may know about one candidate or one issue, but the rest is a complete surprise. The 27 annexations on the O’Fallon ballot were a shock to almost every person I saw vote Tuesday. They couldn’t believe there were so many “things” to vote on.

A very unscientific sampling of people coming out of a polling location that I was watching showed that almost 90% (89.25%) had never even heard of the constitutional charter that they had just voted on. Almost 96% had no idea what Proposition S meant even after they voted on it. (Prop S provides sewer line insurance for not more than $30.00 annually. The city will now repair sewer lines from the house to the street.)

There’s your problem. An uneducated electorate. It’s not that they don’t care, it’s just that they don’t know.