Positive signs from the election
Voters once again got more than a full helping of negativity
during the latest election season, but there were some encouraging
signs as well in San Benito County and statewide.
This past election season was another that left voters feeling
tiresome over politics and distrustful about what politicians have
to say. And for good reason
– with the endless slew of misleading and negative
advertisements, public statements and junk mail continually slung
at residents for month after month after month.
Positive signs from the election
Voters once again got more than a full helping of negativity during the latest election season, but there were some encouraging signs as well in San Benito County and statewide.
This past election season was another that left voters feeling tiresome over politics and distrustful about what politicians have to say. And for good reason – with the endless slew of misleading and negative advertisements, public statements and junk mail continually slung at residents for month after month after month.
But at the same time, the results from the Nov. 2 election also underscored how misleading ploys don’t necessarily fool San Benito County voters. Voters aren’t necessarily blinded by negativity or intentional distractions from reality, the two main goals of most campaign strategists these days. They aren’t necessarily influenced by the amount of money candidates spend.
Two San Benito County races stand out from the ballot in that regard.
In the race for District 4 supervisor, Jerry Muenzer is outlasting fellow businessman Phil Fortino. Both candidates ran exceptionally clean, respectful races and both can hold their heads high in retrospect. They will get along with each other regardless and neither will need to hold regrets about the choice made by what appears to be a very slim majority of voters. They can continue on with their lives in our small community, where the grocery store is a social experience, without concerns about any lasting impact left by the campaigns.
That campaign, along with the sheriff’s race, also showed that candidates don’t guarantee victory by largely out-raising and outspending their opponents. Frankly, the dollar figures from those two races – around $300,000 in total – were outrageous at best. It signals the mentality from candidates that more money equals more votes, that slick mailers will successfully manipulate the mainstream, that the machine will trump the message.
It wasn’t the case in those races or the governor’s race, where Republican Meg Whitman spent more than $150 million – about four times that of opponent Democrat Jerry Brown – and lost.
It’s an encouraging sign – that the message still can mean more than the money.
