Only a few more weeks and November will be here. So will the opportunity to exercise the voting franchise that so many of us take for granted. Even with early voting and absentee ballots readily accessible, we still don’t seem to get more than half of eligible voters to the polls in a good year. Sometimes we have to learn the hard way that every vote counts.
This summer, in a close run-off between Karen Handel and Nathan Deal, the latter won the day by a margin of some 2,500 votes. Given that there are around 2,900 voting precincts in the state, one additional person voting in each district could have changed history. Don’t ever say YOUR vote won’t count.
I took the time to go to the Nathan Deal rally over at Falcon Field last Friday. I have to admit that I haven’t been very enthusiastic about the candidate running against Roy Barnes. Like most of you, I have been troubled with the ethics charges that have been circulating. I have been put off by the negative reports in the press regarding his finances.
But given the chance to meet Nathan Deal, listen to his vision for Georgia, and to see his passion for conservative and sensible government, I began to dig a little deeper into just who Nathan Deal is.
First, it became apparent that all of these vacant charges were leveled at him after he had decided to run for governor. Second, most of the financial struggles were those that just about any Georgian could be facing given the current economy.
What struck me most was that there was a long track record of voting that separated Deal from the Democrat. Deal voted against Obamacare, against Cap and Trade, against TARP and against the stimulus package. He also cosponsored the introduction of the FAIRTAX bill with John Linder. Nathan is an unabashed conservative.
No one will ever convince me that Roy Barnes is ethically pure as sunlight, and I know that he does not represent the values that I share with conservatives.
Given the track record, and the support given to the Obama administration, I have no illusion that Barnes would stand up for states’ rights, as the new governor will surely be challenged.
I have no illusion that Barnes will fulfill his re-districting duty any differently than the last go-round that ended up with constitutional challenges overturning the amoeba ink-blot-looking gerrymandered mess of his first administration. I have no illusion that Barnes will continue to ignore the problems Georgia faces regarding budgets, water rights, and illegal aliens.
Since the rally, I have spoken to many teachers who remember how Roy Barnes treated them the last chance he was given access to power. They don’t need convincing to vote for Nathan Deal. But it is imperative that we all actually go vote!
It is going to be easy to convince yourself that “one vote won’t really be missed”, but I ask you to think about how you are going to feel if the totals are as close as the last election. Truth is, none of us can afford to sit this one out. We can’t afford to sit on the sidelines ever again.
Pat Hinchey
Fayetteville, Ga.
