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 I recently discussed the winds of change that I feel blowing across Capitol Hill, causing a chill of fear among normally safe politicians who are facing serious challenges not only in the general election, but within their own party’s primaries.
That wind could not have been any chillier than for Frank Murkowski, the Republican governor of Alaska who not only lost his party’s primary, becoming the first incumbent governor to lose in a primary in 12 years, but lost miserably. To the tone of third place out of three candidates, garnering only 19 percent of the vote from his own registered Republicans.
Why, you ask? Arrogance. And Americans are fighting back.
This is the arrogance that comes with power. The same arrogance that you see with every smirk and chuckle that GW has become famous for. In the case of Murkowski, it was his insistence on having a private plane for travel, as well as his decision to choose his daughter to fill his long-held Senate seat after taking over the seat of governor. Political nepotism at its finest.
American politics is known worldwide among other political systems for its retention of incumbents, sometimes even after scandals and other unethical acts. My master’s thesis studies this trend, and finds that historically, American voters do not punish politicians for their unethical acts, especially if that act is not close in proximity to the next election cycle. People normally either forget quickly, or just don’t care enough.
So, why the change in trend then? My take? I think for the first time, the arrogance of our politicians has manifested itself into policy, particularly foreign policy, that has put us already into two wars and approaching a few more, has made our nation an outcast around the world, and has accomplished nothing over the past 5 years in terms of keeping promises of making us safer, both within our own borders and abroad. our economy is sliding, our education system is failing, our housing market is flailing, our deficit is expanding, the rich get richer and the poor get a lot poorer, the middle class continues to be taken advantage of in terms of taxes, gas prices continue to balloon along with the profits of the oil companies, and all the while, we hear the same message… stay the course. Stay the course. Stay the course.
November 7 is Election Day. Mid-term elections typically experience lower turnout. I believe this mid-term election will be one of the most important in history and will show that the trend of political apathy in this country is changing. Murkowski is proof that Lieberman and McKinney were not just an aberration. Get out and vote, not only on November 7, but in your state’s primary, and hold your elected officials at all levels accountable for their actions.
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