EDITORIAL

And the Winning Political Strategy is ... Voter's Breakfast

The answering machine at home beeps and what do we hear but a recorded message left from Republican gubernatorial aspirant Ellen Sauerbrey.

Snaking along the Chesapeake Bay, black-on-yellow rises on stalks from country roads. Sunflowers? Nah. Some of the 1,800 signs that Democrat Janet Owens has planted to imprint her name on the minds of voters who will choose an Anne Arundel county executive Nov. 3.

From every direction, we're besieged by politics at a time of year for making fundamental choices not just about public policy but about personal involvement.

That means voting, of course, and if you're not a voter you can stop right here and turn straight to "News of the Weird" because that's where you belong if you can't drag your sorry self to the polling place a week from Tuesday. If you haven't registered, it's too late now.

Now that we've gotten rid of the dead weight, we can talk about the opportunities out there for the rest of us:

• Meeting candidates. This is one of those rare times when candidates are "out among 'em," as our grandfather used to say. (Check "Good Bay Times" for some of the listings.) Most offices are held for four years so, if you stop and think about it, political seasons like this roll around only 20 or so times in most people's lives. It's a chance to look people in the eye, make sure they don't have jellyfish handshake. You can have your say on the Bay, on gambling, on hunting, fishing or, for that matter, frogs. You can remind them that they work for you.
• Boosting turnout. Maryland's sub-30 percent voter turnout in the primary last month is like going 0-7 in the World Democracy League. And now, analysts warn of an especially low turnout because of our supposed disgust with Washington politics. This should be incentive enough to prove that we are not the pathetic, impressionable people we're made out to be. This means thumping the tub not just at your kitchen table but in your neighborhood, at your job-site and at the grocery when you're buying tortilla chips.
• Making a difference. This isn't one of those elections where, as George Wallace used to say, there ain't a dime's worth of difference between candidates. It would be hard to find an election anywhere, at any time, where candidates represented such divergent worldviews as those of Maryland's candidates for governor.

That choice, Gov. Parris Glendening or Ellen Sauerbrey, could make a difference in many parts of our lives: in government regulations; in taxes; and, perhaps dramatically, in conservation issues and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay.

Call us names but never accuse us of failing to offer a solution, which, in this case, can accomplish all three objectives.

It's called Voter's Breakfast, and this is how it works: Hustle up a band of family, friends and neighbors. Arrange to vote (while you're educating them on how) at a certain time. Then meet for breakfast to talk it over.

One more thing: If your favorite candidate looks like a winner, pick up the check.

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VolumeVI Number 42
October 22-28, 1998
New Bay Times

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