Remember “Field of Dreams”? A farmer is going bankrupt. About to lose his farm, a voice tells him to build a baseball field on prime farmland “build it and they will come.” And they do come.
This year’s Republican primaries have seen phenomenal voter turnout. In Michigan, more than twice as many voters came to the polls as four years ago over 1 million people took time out from their hectic schedules to vote. Voter turnout was way up in South Carolina, too.
Why? Because this time, people believe there’s something to vote for. That’s not common. Few races are competitive. Incumbents win more than 98 percent of the time. Most states don’t have citizen initiatives so voters don’t get to decide issues or even weigh in on them directly.
But in the Republican primaries, people see a chance for their vote to count. Neither Bush nor McCain is an incumbent. And both candidates are talking about reform.
A friend from Arkansas told me that in 1992 he waited in line for over an hour to cast a vote for term limits. Wow, a whole hour. I’ve certainly never had to do that in Virginia. With no initiative process and rarely a competitive race at any level, I get in and out of my polling place with ease. But I’d rather wait in line, if it meant I had a choice.
We the people are not apathetic. We want reform. Hold an election that means something and we will come.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.