Cool Dude #4: The Voters
I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.
I have fallen back on that quote often in my life. It comes as the closing paragraph in Abraham Lincoln inaugural address. I think it says so much, and I think it hits exactly what is happening in this city, and what in fact can derail our progress as a city.
This week, I seek to celebrate you, the voter. I seek to look to the future of this election here in Wausau, and I hope to see you in record numbers. Massive numbers of votes piled to the sky, so many votes it takes over night to count them. So that we wait, with baited breath and live coverage from the news media with polling reports and the whole nine yards. That is my hope for this city. A turnout so massive it dwarfs an Everest football game.
According to the City of Wausau website, in 2005 the city of Wausau had a population of roughly 40,000 people. Election data from the last wave of City Council election is difficult to find, but it seems not uncommon for a person to have won a race 110 to 50. Roughly 160 votes out of the possible 3300 that are said to make up each of the districts. Turnout was low.
That is appalling.
I read today in the Washington Post that a result of the national infighting is a higher voter turnout. Well if that is the case, then we are on course for massive turnout in Wausau.
This election has been one that has been filled with negativity and paranoia. I have met with both of the two candidates, and I liked them both. I came away thinking that I just wanted to give them a hug. They are both fighting very hard, and I fear that they are losing the vision of the forest while standing among the trees. They are both battered people right now, and they are both good people. They need a rest, and I hope they both can take a nap on April 2nd.
My fear is that these are two people who have dug in, and as result will not be able to work together. Some of the behind the scenes stuff put forth by supporters, or people who want to be involved is so hate-filled, and so evil, that it seems to have soured the process.
So, now we come to you. Voters. And your amazing coolness. Your awesome accepted challenge, and your awesome role in the future of our fair city. Your coolness is so cool, it shakes me up.
I had a high school teacher, Mr. Bruce Chopp, tell me that if I did not vote, I did not have any right to complain. Well I love to complain! So, I vote. Often, every chance I get. I vote and I vote and I vote. As a result, I complain. I complain, and I criticize, and I cajole, and I write letters, and I write here in this bloggy blog. I vote so I have earned the right to be a part of the process. My taxes don’t give me that right, my vote does.
As does yours. Your voice is your vote. Here at Citizen Wausau we blather on about providing a voice to people, a place where people can write what they want when they want how they want. Well, right now, your voice is your vote. More than a letter to the editor, or a comment on a blog or a comment in forum, your voice is your vote.
You have a chance to drive out the negative people from local politics. You have a chance to have your voice heard. You have a chance to vote for someone, and have that person win, and you feel amazing about it.
You’re going to decide whom the next Mayor of this city is. We won’t. The Wausau Daily Herald or the City Pages or 550 AM will not. You will. The negative forces at play think that a low turnout is what they want, a chance to really control the numbers gives them a better chance to affect the outcome. You have a chance to stomp that into the ground.
How cool would it be if 40 thousand voters showed up?
So, cool dudes and dudettes, and I know you’re out there, I hope you vote. For someone. Anyone. Write in candidates, Hadley or Tipple, who cares? Go vote. Own the city you live in. Grasp it with your hands.
Your vote is your voice! Shout! Live out loud. Challenge the powers that be; challenge those that want an apathetic population. Rise up voters, and be as cool as I know you can be.