| I have to be honest and say that I've been a little surprised by the reaction of the media to the possibility that Mark Brewer and Bobby Shostak would hatch some scheme to get rid of the primary for the 11th Congressional District to save money. I mean, I get the facts of the thing -- it's money most of those communities can't afford to spend on an election the results of which will ultimately only apply for a couple of weeks -- but it seems like an awfully dangerous precedent to set, getting rid of Constitutionally mandated elections because they're too much bother. If money is the issue, where is the retroactive complaining about this year's Republican presidential primary, which cost taxpayers of the state $10 million and which is something that the GOP could have handled at its own expense with a caucus. This is especially the case on the Republican side, where there are at least two competing philosophies (one nutty, the other nuttier) to choose from. That said, I give you the Free Press-endorsed candidate in the 11th Congressional District, upon the occasion of every community there having to foot the bill for a primary election that will lead to the naming of a candidate who might serve for two weeks. "I deeply regret the cost, confusion and extra burden on the local clerks which will occur due to the Special Election the Governor has called," said Cassis, who is running as a write-in candidate on the Aug. 7 primary ballot, in a written statement. "But we cannot allow this seat to be represented by a Democrat who supports ObamaCare, or a Republican who believes President Bush and Vice President Cheney were responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attack on America."
Translation: My two weeks of service will absolutely be worth every penny of that $650,000. Keep in mind the Freep's endorsement of her was based on her competence as a state senator. Competent lawmakers would take care to spare their districts an otherwise-useless expense of more than half a million dollars. Egomaniacs say they hate to see that money spent (on something other than public safety, or local road projects), but say that the cost is a regrettably necessary to obtain their representation. |
