{"id":7553,"date":"2024-01-01T16:29:01","date_gmt":"2024-01-01T21:29:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/citizensforgoodgovernment.org\/online\/?p=7553"},"modified":"2024-01-01T16:29:01","modified_gmt":"2024-01-01T21:29:01","slug":"confessions-of-a-nitwit-voter-and-why-i-changed-my-ways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citizensforgoodgovernment.org\/online\/2024\/01\/01\/confessions-of-a-nitwit-voter-and-why-i-changed-my-ways\/","title":{"rendered":"Confessions of a Nitwit Voter and Why I Changed My Ways!! \u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Editor\u2019s Note:<\/b><\/u><\/strong>\u00a0This piece was published by <\/i><\/b><\/em><\/strong>Robert A<\/i><\/b><\/u><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0in a 2006 \u201cPrint\u201d edition. It is just as (or more) important NOW as it ever was in 2006.<\/i><\/b><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/em><\/strong>Up until a couple of years ago I never really paid a great deal of attention to our local elections. I\u2019d made it a point to vote in the Presidential election each time that rolled around, but I never really considered our county elections worthy of the same level of attention. \u00a0I\u2019d be driving down the road during the pre-election frenzy and wonder, who exactly put all those signs up? And of course, the more important question was; just who intends to clean that mess up when it\u2019s all over? Here are a few of the astounding reasons I\u2019ve had for voting for certain candidates over the years.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u00a0He\/She is an incumbent and I have not heard anything really horrible about them. \u00a0Therefore, they must be doing a good job. I\u2019ll vote for them.<\/li>\n
  2. \u00a0This is obviously a female name and since women have a harder time obtaining positions of power this one must really have her act together. I\u2019ll vote for her.<\/li>\n
  3. \u00a0\u00a0I discussed this race with several people while waiting in line and they recommended this guy. Considering the fact that I\u2019d never heard of most of these people, I might as well vote for who everyone else seems to like. They\u2019d probably have won anyway.<\/li>\n
  4. \u00a0I\u2019ve actually met this fellow before and he seemed all right. \u00a0I\u2019ll vote for him.<\/li>\n
  5. \u00a0I overheard some folks at work discussing this man and they thought he was the solution to all our problems. \u00a0This concept also applies to political signs. \u00a0The more signs someone had the more popular I felt they were. \u00a0That appeared to be sound reasoning at the time, so I cast more than one vote based on popularity or sign count.<\/li>\n
  6. \u00a0This rascal jumped out in front of me on my way into the polls and handed me his card. \u00a0He seemed a bit desperate to me and there was most likely a reason for that. I made sure I didn\u2019t vote for that fool.<\/li>\n
  7. \u00a0And when all else failed, \u201cEnie, Meanie Miney, Moe\u201d always held the right answer!! Surely fate was guiding that pen when I played that game with my ballot. I\u2019ve voted for that guy more than once.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    What was I thinking?<\/b><\/u><\/strong>\u00a0I ultimately realized I hadn\u2019t been thinking at all. I also know I have no one to blame except myself. What exactly did our state and county elected officials do that was so important anyway?<\/p>\n

    Well, they make all our laws, raise or lower our taxes, plan our state and local budgets, etc. Exactly how our tax dollars are spent depends on who we\u2019ve decided to represent us. \u00a0Everything from if we must cover our pickup load of trash with a tarp to making it mandatory that seat belts are worn by passengers in the back seat of our cars is decided by the very people I\u2019d so haphazardly voted for.<\/p>\n

    What about the Sheriff? Just how important is that guy? I\u2019d have to say extremely important at this point. The Sheriff implements all programs and procedures for that department countywide. Everything from where and how drug trafficking is addressed, procedures at the jail, personnel decisions, and implementation of programs to fight crime and raise public awareness fall squarely on the shoulders of the person we elect to that office.<\/p>\n

    What about the DA, Clerk of Court, Commissioners, Judges? They are important too?? Every office is important I have decided.<\/p>\n

    So, what changed my attitude? Did I simply get older and wiser? No. That would not be a truthful answer. A couple of years ago I was the victim of a non-violent crime. I can\u2019t say that it did any real damage other than compromise my sense of security. But for whatever reason I started paying a lot more attention to who was occupying what office and just how good a job were they doing.<\/p>\n

    I\u2019m glad I finally wised up and I hope that each person out there will make the same decision I did. Be an informed voter when you go to the polls this year. After all it is a responsibility as well as a privilege<\/p>\n

    (2006) Editor\u2019s Note: This article was written by a CGG reader who has started paying attention. Cleveland County needs more Emily\u2019s going to the ballot box.<\/p>\n

    ************************************************************************************************<\/p>\n

    2024 Editor\u2019s Note<\/i><\/b><\/u><\/em><\/strong>: Now, it is time for the 2024 Election. Let\u2019s add the CC Commissioner\u2019s race as well as the CCS School Board race to our \u201cPay ATTENTION ZONE and double down on the scrutiny.<\/i><\/b><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/em><\/strong>These are Robert A\u2019s suggestions for office: <\/i><\/b><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/em><\/strong>For Commissioner<\/i><\/b><\/u><\/em><\/strong>: You are recommended to vote for these<\/i><\/b><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0three<\/i><\/b><\/u><\/em><\/strong>.<\/i><\/b><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/em><\/strong>Robert A. Williams<\/i><\/b><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    • <\/i><\/b>Linda Laine<\/i><\/b><\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n
    • <\/i><\/b>Carter York<\/i><\/b><\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      \u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/u><\/em><\/strong>For CCS School Board<\/i><\/b><\/u><\/em><\/strong>; You are recommended to vote for these<\/i><\/b><\/em><\/strong>\u00a0five<\/i><\/b><\/u><\/em><\/strong>.<\/i><\/b><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

        \n
      • \u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/em><\/strong>Samantha Davis<\/i><\/b><\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n
      • <\/i><\/b>Matthew Canipe<\/i><\/b><\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n
      • <\/i><\/b>David Fisher<\/i><\/b><\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n
      • <\/i><\/b>Kenneth Ledford<\/i><\/b><\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n
      • <\/i><\/b>Jay Carpenter<\/i><\/b><\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Editor\u2019s Note:\u00a0This piece was published by Robert A\u00a0in a 2006 \u201cPrint\u201d edition. It is just as (or more) important NOW as it ever was in 2006. \u00a0Up until a couple of years ago I never really paid a great deal of attention to our local elections. I\u2019d made it a point to vote in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7554,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"2","single_blog_custom":"","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"0","layout":"double-sidebar","sidebar":"single-left","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"topbottom","share_float_style":"share-normal","show_share_counter":"0","show_view_counter":"0","show_featured":"0","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"0","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"0","show_prev_next_post":"0","show_popup_post":"0","number_popup_post":"2","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"0","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"no-crop","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post":"0","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo_enable":"0","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":"","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":"32","hide":""},"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[61],"class_list":["post-7553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cgg-investigations","tag-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citizensforgoodgovernment.org\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citizensforgoodgovernment.org\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citizensforgoodgovernment.org\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citizensforgoodgovernment.org\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citizensforgoodgovernment.org\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citizensforgoodgovernment.org\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7553\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citizensforgoodgovernment.org\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citizensforgoodgovernment.org\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citizensforgoodgovernment.org\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citizensforgoodgovernment.org\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}