It’s time to vote: Do your homework

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O P I N I O N

The Soapbox

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Stand up. Speak up. It’s your turn.


Tomorrow New Hampshire citizens will be going to the polls to determine who will represent us in our town governments, the State House, and Washington, DC. When I first moved to New Hampshire 32 years ago, elections were an altogether different experience than they are today. Negative ads were tame by comparison, and local elections were pretty non-partisan. Today, we seem to choose people who will make truly consequential decisions that impact every constituent based on ideology and nothing more. Bi-partisanship and collaboration are openly mocked and discouraged. I do not fully understand how we got to this place, and I don’t know how we get out of it, but I know that we must try if we wish to preserve our democratic ideals.

Over the past several years, we have witnessed two troubling trends converge. The first is the vilification of anyone whose views differ from ours. Yesterday, driving through town, I saw big yellow signs proclaiming that Democrats are liars. I received a horrific piece of mail that asserted that liberals are lining library shelves with pornographic materials aimed at children and that teachers are “grooming” them for sexual exploitation. The ads blare that liberals hate America and want to destroy it. I am not naïve and am well aware that my fellow liberals are not immune from hurling similar hyperbole and hate: It is categorically wrong no matter the source.

The second is the idea that the last election was somehow stolen. Until this election, everyone – and I mean everyone – believed that we held free and fair elections in the United States. The U.S. has represented the ideal for countries worldwide as they fought for the same rights we have taken for granted for hundreds of years. How is it that virtually overnight, because one politician lost an election, a huge percentage of our country believes that elections are somehow rigged? I have proudly worked at the polls as a ballot clerk and an election observer, serving with my neighbors of every political party, and not one of us has ever seen a hint of fraud. It breaks my heart to see our country so divided and distrustful.

The convergence of these trends has caused a new breed of politicians to emerge. They are proudly unqualified for and vilify the jobs for which they want our vote (“I am not a politician!” they proclaim while asking us to hire them to be a politician…) They hold extreme views, and they inspire their followers to say and do things that just a few short years ago were so far out of the norm as to be unimaginable, including real political violence.

This cannot continue if we have any hope for our communities, country, and our democratic ideals. I implore you to use these next 24 hours before Election Day to carefully vet your candidates. Look at their qualifications and experience, their words and deeds, their beliefs and ideals. Ask yourself how you want to be represented — and then vote.

Finally, I ask you that you trust that your neighbors who work at the polls are there to represent you, to ensure our election is free and fair for EVERYONE.


Beg to differ? Agree to disagree? Your thoughtful prose on topics of general interest, or in response to a previous Soapbox, are welcome. Send to publisher@manchesterinklink.com for consideration, subject line: The Soapbox.


 

About this Author

Allison Nussbaum lives in Manchester, NH