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Dorothy Copus Brush It's time to exercise Tomorrow is the day for citizens to exercise
their right as Americans to go to the polls and vote. Some scoff
and say it is not important since it is only the primaries. Wrong.
Voting is a right and a responsibility, whether the primaries
or the general election. I cast an absentee ballot, and the clerk told
me they were disappointed by the light turnout. As the early
voting ended in Knoxville, a clerk there was quoted as saying,
"It was pitiful." It has been no secret that fewer and fewer
Americans are voting. Theories abound as to why this is the case.
Too much time between primaries and the general election? Too
many polls? Too much emphasis on facts and rumors about the candidate's
private life? Is it because we reach the saturation point long
before the polls open? To those possible reasons, add the tremendous
outlay of money squandered on campaigning, and the average voter
is one step away from becoming a cynic. Recently the political columnist for The Tennessean,
Larry Daughtrey, wrote a column on the lack of enthusiastic voters
today. First he explained why we had August elections. Just as
school sessions were scheduled according to the needs of the
agricultural life, so were elections. By August most of the hard
farming chores were done, and the farmer could concentrate on
politics. In those earlier days voters couldn't sit
at home and listen to candidates on radio or television. Instead
they met in the town square to listen to what the candidate had
to say. They could watch the body language and look him in the
eye as they shook his hand. These courthouse rallies served another purpose.
Daughtrey explained, "Before pollsters were a dime a dozen,
courthouse crowds were watched as a barometer of support."
As the county seat, Crossville was the scene of many of these
political gatherings and, according to old issues of the Chronicle,
they drew large crowds from near and far across the county. These were tough audiences and undoubtedly
many agreed with the words of Al Smith who said in 1936, "No
matter how thin you slice it, it's still boloney." Will
Rogers, another political wit of that time said, "I tell
you folks all politics is applesauce." Just prior to the August 1960 election, the
Chronicle predicted a record vote. In that same issue, the editorial
page carried a reprint of a commentary which had appeared in
Sunshine Magazine entitled "The First Vote." "The first time a boy votes he becomes
a man. He doesn't think of what his vote means to his country
or to the world, unless he is unusual. And he is right for what
it means to him is the Declaration of Independence, The Magna
Carta and the Bill of Rights. It is the fountainhead of our Republic. "He has grown up. He is of age. He is
young, independent and free. And our country is young, too -
just like the new young voter. May it never grow narrow of mind
and cynical enough to vote a straight ticket, or refuse to vote
at all because, 'One politician is as good as another.' If ever
our country loses its youthful heart, it will no longer be free." The prediction of a record vote for that August 1960 election proved to be true. Cumberland County voters still had youthful hearts. |