Editorial: Just too darn busy for trifling matters

Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2000 | 10:30 a.m.

The Dallas Morning News reported Friday that Richard Cheney didn't vote in 14 of the last 16 elections since he moved to Texas more than four years ago. Most politicians would be embarrassed by this revelation -- but not Cheney. The GOP vice presidential nominee downplayed the importance of local elections. Cheney also argued that, as the head of a giant Dallas-based energy services company, he was too busy to vote. "I'm sure they are for people that are connected with them," he said of local elections. "But I also traveled a great deal. ... I was not involved in community affairs very extensively in Dallas. My focus was on global concerns."

Even for jet-setters such as Cheney, however, the fact is that Texas makes it easy to cast an absentee vote. And Cheney's rationale will irritate mothers and fathers of working families who do find the time in their genuinely hectic schedules to vote on Election Day. Meanwhile, Cheney's executive living and wooden demeanor haven't caught on with voters -- and his handlers are running out of time. Maybe, just maybe, Cheney could find his niche as the apathetic voters' candidate. Of course, the only problem with that strategy is that he'd be appealing to the very people who don't vote anyway.