Apathy will get us a United States President that we may deserve

By Gordon Garnos

AT ISSUE: Whether or not we realize it, the November 4th General Election is just around the corner. Information on the candidates and the issues is all over the place. Polls, statistics and stuff like that about the candidates and issues are dropping from the sky. But the fear is that the majority of the general public aren't looking up. There are two kinds of voters; those who follow an ideology of either being a conservative or a liberal and those who vote with their emotions, whatever they may be. Sadly, too many people use their emotions in elections and couldn't give a hoot what the partisan issues may be.

THE TWO NATIONAL political conventions are now history and the official campaign for President of these United States is supposed to be in high gear. However, if it is in high gear now, what has it been for the past many, many months?

This leads me to the point that this year's South Dakota State Fair is also history, but on Labor Day, the last day of the fair, I met a friend. No, it wasn't on the midway, nor was it coming out of the wine-tasting tent. It was exactly half way between the Republican tent (building) and the Democrat tent (building). They may have been tents at one time and the old timers still call them "the tents." Those are the places where the ideologists would meet a candidate or two and get loaded down with partisan literature and pins, stick-ons and such. Those were also the places where the curious would stop by to see what was going on. The apathetic stayed with the cotton candy, and there was lots of cotton candy. Jokingly, I asked him which tent had he just come out of.

His response should have shook the shingles on both of these buildings. "There isn't much (both candidates and issues) this year that excites me. I don't even think I'm going to vote this fall."

I THOUGHT AT THE TIME as well as later what a mistake he was making ­ not going to vote, the very process that has kept this nation going for more than two hundred years. And whether or not he even cares about the seven or so issues on the South Dakota ballot as well as the legislative candidates vieing for a post to Pierre is a pretty easy question to answer.

In his case and in the case of far too many others, one would have to say they are suffering from "ED," electile dysfunction. But what got them there to that state of mind? Has it been the extra long campaigns? Is it the caliber of candidates up for election? Granted, the radios, televisions and newspapers have be crammed with political news for way over a year, especially when you consider the long primary campaigns in both partisan camps. Or has it been some of the cliche¹s that have been bouncing off the walls in both camps?

As Julia Keller of the Chicago Tribune recently wrote, "The question isn't 'Who's goona win in November.'" "It is: 'Will this be the most cliche-ridden election season in history?'"

SHE IS, OF COURSE, referring to the "array of hackneyed phrases, vacuous (empty) sayings, trite verbiage, empty rhetoric and meaningless babble" that have already been heard so far by both the national Democrats and Republicans. I think our South Dakota politicians are smarter than getting sucked in on such expressions, but maybe not.

According to Keller, an example here was when Senator Barack Obama played up "the race card." And not to be outdone, Senator McCain played "the age card." But they weren't the only cards being played on the table. There was "the gender card," referring to the candidacy of Senator Hillary Clinton, or "playing the Mormon card" in reference to the similarly doomed candidacy of Mitt Romney.

"However, this playing card metaphor has been around for centuries," Keller wrote. "Sometimes, you can have a double-scoop of cliche. When Obama told an audience that Republicans would note how he doesn't look like all those other presidents on those dollar bills,McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, said Obama 'has played the race card, and he played it from the bottom of the deck.'"

AT THE SAME TIME, if one can get by the cliches, meaningless babble, empty rhetoric, trite verbiage and other hackneyed phrases being tossed about this campaign season, there is a real need to look at the candidates, examine the issues and "not muddy the water" with personal, family issues we keep hearing about, we still might get a good President and Vice President "out of the deal."...


Gordon Garnos was long-time editor of the Watertown Public Opinion and recently retired after 39 years with that newspaper. Garnos, a lifelong resident of South Dakota except for his military service in the U.S. Air Force, was born and raised in Presho.