Since gubernatorial candidates continue to flow in and out of the area, we felt it important to continue discussing the upcoming elections.
In particular, we feel it is important to talk about voter expectations. The reality is, we live in an instant feedback society. Perhaps what we really should say is that those who live in virtual reality expect instant feedback. While that may be possible with the Internet, or even on television, government often works at different speeds. Voters too often today expect instant change after an election.
Think that’s not the case? Just look at national politics. Barack Obama was elected in large part because he promised change, something different, a new perspective on old issues. Now, not quite 18 months after his inauguration, Obama is old news, a sitting president faced with the same seemingly insurmountable problems as most of his predecessors.
So what do we do? Lower expectations? Well, not necessarily. But we as voters and citizens do need to remember that we play an important role in the whole political process. That role is more than just showing up to vote at elections. We need to continue to stay involved. We must continue to demand more out of our political leaders, demand that they work to solve our problems and issues.
Unfortunately, finding solutions to today’s problems takes time, and that is the one thing we seem less and less willing to accept. Instant gratification, unfortunately, just doesn’t happen in real-world politics. Those who understand that are successful, those who don’t get frustrated at the process and give up on the system. That’s too bad, because that short attention span approach takes good people out of the process.
As much as we hold out expectations that the next governor will truly work to solve problems important to the area, we also remind voters and local officials that it is up to us to continue to hold his or her feet to the fire after the elections are over.
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