Tuesday’s non-biding primary election has been referred to as a “beauty contest” throughout the country. Maybe it’s a beauty contest for the candidates, but for Missouri, it’s just a downright embarrassment.
National Republican Party rules dictate that Missouri cannot hold its primary elections until after March 6, yet Missouri law mandates the state must hold a primary election.
The Missouri Republican Party had a choice: either move the primary to a later date in March or hold the primary earlier and lose half of its delegates in the national convention. So the people could decide and lose half the impact of the decision, or the GOP could decide themselves. It was either a rock or a hard place.
So they tried to move it, but the attempts were victims of regular unnecessary bureaucratic bulk and partisan political conflict. The first bill included an earmark that would strip Gov. Jay Nixon of his power to make appointments to Senate vacancies and other offices, so he vetoed it. The second bill passed in the House but died in the Senate as the result of a delay over a stalemate on an economic development bill.
The fact that Rick Santorum is the only candidate who seriously campaigned in our state shows how seriously presidential hopefuls take our primary: not very seriously at all. Newt Gingrich intentionally dropped out of the primary. They haven’t come to make speeches, shake hands and take pictures here because they know the real power is in the hands of the Missouri GOP when they assign delegates during their caucus in March, and we don’t blame them.
At the present moment, to vote or not to vote is the question. We the people are now in between a rock and a hard place.
Not voting sends the message to our state government that we won’t tolerate our rights and power as voters to be rendered useless, no matter how important this election might seem on the surface. Perhaps a low voter turnout will create even more of an embarrassment for our state and will convince legislators to take the issue more seriously. If candidates don’t care enough to campaign in our state, Missourians won’t be convinced to care enough to vote for them, especially since voters will be less informed with only one candidate campaigning. Out-of-state college students might better spend their votes on absentee ballots in their home state primaries. It might affect more change if votes aren’t thrown away.
Voting is the most vital function of the democratic process, however, and as college students who are new to the electoral process, it’s good to get the habit started now. Despite the fact our votes won’t decide how many delegates to send to the national convention, the results of our primary election will be seen by the rest of the nation and might trigger a psychological ripple effect convincing citizens to vote for whichever candidate has had the most support in the past. Additionally, caucus participants might be watching to see how their state voted and act on that information.
Whether or not you decide to vote (the primary is open and includes four Democrats, 10 Republicans, one Libertarian. You do not have to be a registered Republican to vote), the unavoidable fact is this primary is a waste of tax-payer dollars, more specifically, an estimated $7 million, according to the Missouri secretary of state’s spokesman Ryan Hobart. This is one very expensive “beauty contest.”
It is especially infuriating considering the people of Missouri have been excellent predictors of the presidential election results. Since 1904, Missourians have voted for the future winner every singe election, with just two exceptions, according to 270towin.com. Instead of making the play in the game, we’re forced to sit on the sidelines, hoping our presence might make some kind of impact. At a time when the national spotlight is on Missouri, we’ve been portrayed in a very negative light.
We’re not pointing a finger at anyone specifically, rather, we’re encouraging everyone to listen up and act. This has to change for next time. Perhaps the past few years weren’t enough, but now we have four more. Missouri needs to get a jump-start and make sure it happens.
This “beauty contest” is an embarrassing debacle on a national level, a huge waste of money in a time when our state’s been forced to make serious budget cuts, and a disempowering superficiality that can only disillusion the people of their power in our nation’s most important democratic process. This is a lose-lose situation for all, and it’s the result of the increasingly infuriating circus of partisan politics.
It was a simple action that never happened. Move the primary to a later date. Occam’s razor is the best solution here. For the next presidential election, simply move the primary to a date that ensures voters have a say, and make sure no partisan baggage gets in the way. It’s our vote that counts, isn’t it?
