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Sunday, May 23, 2010 | 2 a.m.
Permit me a break from watching the wheels fall off Sue Lowden’s bus as she careens toward the finish line or listening to the last gasps of Jim Gibbons’ candidacy before a peril-laden lame-duck period begins to issue a biennial admonition: Don’t vote.
At least not yet.
For those who voted Saturday and have done so today, it is too late. But as the abomination known as early voting continues for the next fortnight, resist the urge to end the misery caused by hollow rhetoric and inane TV ads by casting your ballot before its time on June 8.
I know this rant falls on deaf ears — if history is a guide, half of the primary voting universe will have dispensed with the sacred duty with the solemnity of a trip to the convenience store. I am used to being ignored (do not forget — I have a teenage daughter).
But imagine:
You voted for U.S. Senate hopeful Sharron Angle this weekend and then watch in horror the disclosure June 1 that she had a bit part in “Battlefield Earth,” left on the cutting room floor because she advocated mandatory chemical castration of rapists.
You voted for gubernatorial candidate Brian Sandoval this weekend and then recoil with revulsion at the revelation June 4 that a tape exists of him saying, “I had to lie during the campaign but, of course, I will raise taxes.”
Or, perhaps, you voted this weekend for congressional aspirant Michelle Fiore and then blanch with embarrassment at the unveiling June 7 of a defunct website in which she was selling guns on the black market to illegal immigrants.
These are obviously fantastic scenarios (I think), but I exaggerate to make a point. In case you missed it in my subtlety, that point is: Don’t vote. At least not yet.
Early voting was conceived as a way to increase turnout and make it more convenient. But in about two decades, it has not accomplished the former and should not have succeeded at the latter. Turnout in Nevada remains abysmal — 15 percent in Clark County during the 2008 primary.
And why should voting be a convenience, thus reducing its importance to picking up a pack of Trident at the 7-Eleven? I wonder if any of the folks blithely voting this weekend and for the next two weeks have any appreciation for the interminable lines or threats to life and limb those in other countries are willing to endure for the right to vote for their leaders?
It’s not just the potential to miss something that could make you regret your vote — it’s your duty to wait until June 8. So: Don’t vote. At least not yet.
This cycle, I fear, will be worse than most. I would not be surprised if early voting is at a record percentage of total turnout. Why?
Never before in recent history have people had their minds made up, often bereft of facts and unencumbered by thought. Blind anger — emphasis on the first word — governs so much of the political colloquy today that you would have more luck convincing many Republicans that the world is flat than persuading them to vote for Harry Reid. You would have a better chance of inducing Democrats to hop on the birther bandwagon than to consider the possibility that Shelley Berkley isn’t the greatest congresswoman since Bella Abzug.
So if you know what you like — or more likely, loathe — why take the time to carefully deliberate, look at all the facts and make a rational decision?
Better to vote early. Don’t worry, be angry.
Meanwhile, the willfully benighted will trundle down to malls and elsewhere only to be confronted by ballots with names they have never heard of. What, there are judicial races? Who are these people?
Those with patience, though, will have the benefit of televised debates during the run-up to June 8 so they can make — oh, the horror! — an informed, intelligent decision. It will once again be striking — and depressing — how many folks will skip over the judicial races on their ballots after they vote for their favored candidate near the top of the ticket — or more likely, press the button for the candidate they hate the least.
I know I am whistling in the dark, that too many of you prefer ignorance to information, heat to light. So be it.
But when something dramatic occurs during the next two weeks and you already have cast your ballot for the scandalized candidate, don’t blame me. (Did I mention I am working on this great story about this leading candidate for …?)
Don’t vote. At least not yet.
Jon, if you want me to wait to vote, can you at least post a schedule of your upcoming shows so I know which races in which you're going to host debates before June 8th?
Early voting can be tempered by a poll tax. If voting is so important to people they can pay a little money (e.g. $125)to vote.
Also, in the past segregated public accommodations would inconvenience people. Nowadays, people can buy a self-contained RV, equipped with a bathroom, cooking and sleeping facilities. Technology has changed the dynamic.
I haven't heard how the various Nevada candidates have come down on the Rand Paul call for segregated lunch counters.
Early voting by mail would make a lot more sense and save the voter registrar's budget!
Sorry Jon, but I couldn't disagree more.
Early voting is convenient which is the ultimate goal of mankind.
Why stop there, after going back to everybody show up at the same time and stand in line for hours voting we could get rid of the television remote control because it makes changing channels too easy.
****
mred,
Rand Paul cancelled his appearance on Meet the Press because of 'exhaustion'. Is the Kentucky quitter starting to morph into Sarah Palin without the lipstick? He'll probably limit his TV exposure to Fake News to avoid the possibility of a Palin/Couric-style interview disaster.
Thanks, Ralston, but I don't need another week for you to beat up conservatives, I've watched you do it in this feeble paper, and now on your show on Channel 3, so another week won't change my mind.
You just look like a lib watching in horror as Harry Reid gets booted from the senate.
Its as if Democrats had no rhetoric and meaningless platitudes of their own. My my, what a world we live in...
I agree with Jon, and have ever since I early voted for a candidate and the next day found out in the news that he was etichally challenged.
I'll be standing in line, waiting to vote, after doing all the research.
And please, if you have any sense of decency or ethics, DO NOT VOTE for William Kephart for Justice of the Peace.
News at 11
Mred, unlike the Las Vegas Sun, I will give you a more detailed explanation of what Rand Paul meant.
First he's not talking about public discrimination or forced discrimination. Second, racism has a cost. Before the US government and state governments socialized this cost through BIG GOVERNMENT POLICIES forcing segregation. In the free market if you want to be racist you have to be willing to forgo significant amounts of the labor supply and significant amounts of the customer base. This means your costs are high and so are your prices. Worse still, your customers are low. Even worse, your racist customers who might attend might change their mind when they see the high prices.
Additionally non discrimination policies have led to very weird outcomes you might not be aware of. In one instance a lesbian was fined and penalized for advertising that she wanted another roommate if they were gay - she felt more comfortable living with gays. Yup some silly bureaucratic body ruled that she was discriminating against straight people. If a right wing Christian who believes gays will burn in hell wants the room, she has to rent it to them. Is this the sort of bizarre outcomes you want?
Jon Ralston must understand that working people have busy lives and families to take care of. Voting guides are available which help, but an expose by the great Las Vegas journalists would keep the worst out of our political system where they could do much harm.
Doesn't the "buyer's remorse" argument hold no matter when you vote? I suspect that a whole bunch of people who voted for Jim Gibbons ON election day wish they could have a do-over on that one.
Also, by not getting to the polls when (1) they can and (2) when they are thinking about it, some folks may not vote at all if they follow the Ralston Doctrine.
If you don't know by the time early voting begins who your going to vote for, then your in a heap of trouble! I think its good to vote when your angry. It's telling you something about a particular candidate. It's telling you that the mentality of this individual is what you have a problem with. When in doubt, vote all incumbants out. We need term limits..and that's my opinion!
What's the matter, Jon? Afraid of being irrelevant?
Well said, Nevada_Scandalmonger! Nothing makes us question our own judgment quite like the period between elections.
Mr. Ralston,
With regards to your column "The folly of early voting"
Point taken . . . and while my wife and I did intend to vote early as we had in past years, we both have agreed to hold off until the election.
My wife and I also wish to thank you for attending Chuck Muth's - CLC yesterday. Considering the temper of a few in the audience, I would say you were able to put on your game face and you did have some fun.
My guess is that Michelle Fiore thing is probably true. That chick is nuts!
Craig Lake is the best for that race anyway.
Having now experienced the embarassement of "buyers remorse" - your advice has not fallen on deaf ears Jon!
But, better to advise people to just do their due diligence and wait until the last day of Early Voting to maximize the opportunity to change their choices when "breaking news" exposes the corrupt and incompetent - or, plan on standing in line for a little while on Election Day!
The "inconvenience" of having to be a little patient is a small price to pay compared to the sacrifices made by our vets who fought for our freedoms!
I'm holding off on voting this cycle and focusing on supporting the best qualified candidates - and hoping the corrupt will be exposed publicly!
The only thing worse, in my mind, than a lying, cheating, thieving Republican is a lying, cheating and thieving Democrat - and we do need to keep our house cleaning up!
I haven't heard Lowden, Andle or Tarkanian condemn Rand Paul for his call for repelling the ADA, requiring segregated lunch counters or defending BP as he called Obama "un-American. They obviously support him.
Remember Obama had to condemn Reverend Wright?
The real reason Jon hates Early Voting is that it detracts from his role as a commentator. The fact is, Election Day was now effectively May 22, like it or not.
Even though I always vote on Election Day, there's no arguing against the hordes (if you can call Clark's voter turnout a horde).
That said, the best option is to be well informed.
ProgressNow has a good little voter guide for all those down ticket judicial races.
http://www.nevadavoterguide.org
"You voted for gubernatorial candidate Brian Sandoval this weekend and then recoil with revulsion at the revelation June 4 that a tape exists of him saying, "I had to lie during the campaign but, of course, I will raise taxes.""
Hahaha. It's possible, given his latest flop on immigration: http://www.DontBetOnSandoval.com/illegal...
Mred the ADA (disabilities act) was written in such a way as to include as many people as possible regardless of severity of disability in order to ensure that it never gets killed. It was a political bill, nothing more.
It has been abused in the past and will continue to be abused. Small businesses have been hurt the most as snake oil lawyers roll into town suing all small businesses that don't have proper handicap access (regardless of whether or not a handicap person even lives in the town or has ever complained).
Nondiscrimination laws have also been abused. Terminated employees can get back at their former employers and claim discrimination. This sets up a costly investigation where the employer has to pay for the cost while the accuser pays nothing at all (nor are they even known). These costs have forced businesses to take extra special precautions when hiring people from protected classes (and we do have levels of extra protection in our laws for certain groups of people, ironically meaning the law itself discriminates and I bet you support that). Businesses will have extensive and detailed files on these employees -- it costs money to do this. Add up these costs and we see evidence of employers avoiding these costs by not hiring people of protected classes to begin with. Thus, the nondiscrimination policy leads to discrimination where less (or even none) would have occurred without the policy.
Me thinks that you are more interested in controlling the story for as long as possible than in imparting helpful advice to Nevada's voters. Your plea, though, only makes superficial sense.
There is nothing magical about the June 8 deadline for catastrophic candidate self-mutilation. By extending the voting period, all that has happened is that the deadline for disclosing juicy tidbits about one's opponent has been pushed back. Candidates now have every incentive in the world to discover all the information about their opponents before early voting begins. Obviously, the more time one has to search, the more likely one will find something. But that is an inevitable tradeoff with any election date. At some point, we have to actually vote.
I see where you are coming from. After months of trying to pump new drama into the GOP gubernatorial primary you (and others) have had to watch as more and more Nevada voters wised up and coalesced around the best candidate, Brian Sandoval. Good for Nevada and Nevada voters, but, perhaps, bad for you. If, however, you really just are concerned about the influence you might have over voters, don't be. With early voting, voter turnout is higher. You have a greater window of opportunity to cast your shadow.
Ralston, I'm glad that your used to being ignored but don't be fooled, your not ignored for any other reason more than your rant is so extremely Liberal.
Jon,
I agree with you in theory, but this year, the choices are pretty clear. I wouldn't vote for a single Republican if you paid me. What's up with the Grand Old Party of Lincoln? It's loaded with fringe lunatics and worse.
That's funny - a liberal telling us to make sure we have all the facts. Stupidity is bliss???
Who cares what Jon want's!!
Crazy republicans don't like facts or the truth.
Lucky for us, they're the minority party.
Rand Paul is a bigot, he'll lose big in
November.
I moved from a state that has an open primary to one that has a closed primary. I doubt this will ever change here. As an independant I don't have much to vote on. I take pride in being an independant. I will vote and vote early as I am working a voting location and must vote early. I have always done my homework on those running in the general election and have no problem voting early. Sorry Jon, I like the early voting. You shouldn't tag all of us as not having good sense when we vote.
Please listen to this before you vote
http://www.knpr.org/son/archive/detail2....