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DawsonOpinion
WEDNESDAY, May 16, 2018
This is a page of opinion — ours, yours and
others. Signed columns and cartoons are the
opinions of the writers and artists, and they
may not reflect our views.
If you did not
vote, don’t try
to complain
OK, raise your hand and repeat after me:
“I, (state your name), do solemnly swear
that if I do not vote in the primaries next
Tuesday, May 22, I will not criticize those
who win. I further pledge that I will not talk
about ‘crooked politicians’ and how my
vote doesn’t matter. I will accept the fact
that I am too apathetic to appreciate what a
special privilege
it is to partici
pate in free elec
tions; a right
denied in other
parts of the
world. Finally,
instead of caring
who is repre
senting us in the
various levels of government and making
laws that can impact our life, I will be
watching reruns of ‘MASH’ and eating left
over pizza, so help me You-Know-Who.”
Now that we have that crowd out of the
way, let’s talk about the upcoming prima
ries. For the first time in four years, we will
be selecting gubernatorial candidates.
Chances are good we will have to do it all
over again on July 24 because there will
likely be runoffs for several races, most
especially the governor’s race.
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle seems to have a
commanding lead among Republican
gubernatorial candidates, but can he get to
the 50 percent threshold to win the primary
outright and avoid a runoff? I doubt it.
Watch out for whoever comes in second. In
the Republican primary in 2010, then-Geor-
gia Secretary of State Karen Handel came
in first with 34 percent of the vote. A guy
named Nathan Deal trailed with 23 percent.
And we all know how that runoff turned
out.
Right now, getting into a runoff with
Cagle seems to be between Secretary of
State Brian Kemp and former state Sen.
Hunter Hill, although I am sure state Sen.
Michael Williams and businessman Clay
Tippins will dispute that. Note to both: If
either of you do come in second, give me a
call and I will eat a slice of humble pie.
On the Democratic side, former state Rep.
Stacey Abrams seems to have a comfortable
lead over her main rival, former state Rep.
Stacey Evans to challenge the Republican
winner on Nov. 6.
At the moment, neither party seems to
care about those of us in the middle. For
Republican candidates, it is all about who
is the strongest supporter of the Second
Amendment and Donald Trump. For
Democrats, it is about trying to convince
their troops they can push a liberal agenda
through a conservative Legislature. When
the winning candidates have secured the
nomination, perhaps then their political
consultants will allow them to see what the
rest of us are thinking.
There are a number of other races taking
place besides the governor’s race. We will
be electing a lieutenant governor, a secre
tary of state, attorney general, insurance
commissioner, agriculture commissioner,
labor commissioner, school superintendent
and a public service commissioner. In
addition, there are a couple of U.S. House
races, 180 state House seats up for grabs
(you can only vote for one), 56 state
Senate seats (ditto), judges, school board
members and county commissioners,
among others.
You may be saying that this is too much
to keep up with and as much as I want to
be a good citizen, maybe I will just watch
reruns of “MASH” and munch on cold
pizza instead. Don’t do it. That is unless
you don’t buy insurance, electricity, don’t
care about the food you eat or the taxes
you pay or having a job or law enforce
ment or zoning issues.
When we talk about the sad state of poli
tics, we have no one to blame but our
selves. In the 2014 general elections, less
than half of us even took the time to vote
in Georgia.
I happened to be in Iraq when a new
constitution was about to be voted on. It
was the first opportunity for women to cast
a ballot. Some people walked — walked!
— 20 miles for the privilege. And we can’t
get off our lazy tushes and make it to the
nearest polling station? That is shameful
and inexcusable.
I get great sport out of gigging politi
cians but I admire their willingness, as
Teddy Roosevelt said, to get into the arena
and at least make the effort. Good for them
and good for those of us who care enough
to try to elect the best of them.
My hero, Winston Churchill, once opined,
“Democracy is the worst form of govern
ment — except for all the others.” It can
be even worse if we chose not to partici
pate.
You can reach Dick Yarbrough atdick@dickyar-
brough.com; at P.O. Box 725373, Atlanta, GA
31139; online atdickyarbrough.com or on
Facebook at www.facebook.com/dickyarb.
DICKYARBROUGH
Columnist
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