With only days left until the Aug. 6 Democratic and Republican primaries, we are getting down to the lick log, the nitty-gritty, the finish line — or one finish line.
For candidates in some races, Tuesday is just a preliminary heat where they hope to qualify for the big sprint leading to the ultimate finish line in November.
We are very near the point where all primary campaigning will have been done. All persuasive resources will have been expended, all efforts to sway public opinion completed, and the voters will be left to have the last word.
Or, as noted by one old-timer who had exhausted the usefulness of his chewing tobacco: “It’s time to spit or swaller.”
Talking to a number of local candidates, there seems to be an overall sense that the 2019 Tallahatchie County election season has been fairly quiet.
Perhaps that is so.
Folks in these parts generally do not engage in a lot of open mudslinging, or at least not to the extent that it was done back before political correctness became a thing.
The days of good stump speaking are not over, but they seem to have taken on a different feel in this modern age, as does politicking in general.
There still is the undercurrent, the campaign that is waged more on a one-on-one basis in churches, in clubs, in select groups, at gatherings of family and friends. Social media and robo calls play a role, frustratingly so for many of us.
Ever since the serpent engaged in that little heart-to-heart with Eve in the Garden of Eden, folks have been trying to persuade others that their plan, their way, is best.
It is always interesting to see how the “others” react to the sales pitches. Unfortunately, too many people react by turning a deaf ear and a blind eye to all the noise.
Every registered voter should recognize their civic responsibility to cast a ballot in this election.
It is a privilege to be able to have a voice in the process of democratic government, but many people fail to embrace or outright shun the benefit because they are apathetic or just plain fed up with politics.
If government is, as some say, broken, then what can we do about the malfunctioning machine? Our choices are to attempt to fix it or replace it.
In either case, the ballot box is where the initial step in the process really begins.
