Voting And Taking Notes

I voted today, the latest installment of hope triumphing over experience.

There were no national races; little on a statewide basis, either. But there were local contests and some state judiciary positions that merited attention.

The weather was good. The people milling around outside the polling place boosting their candidates were pleasant. Interestingly, more than one person I spoke with referred to voting despite the general feeling of helplessness to do anything to stop the rapid decline of the nation.

Again, no options on my ballot would address national issues. But this general feeling of voting out of habit, without expecting positive change, speaks to despair among the masses, specifically conservatives.

Here in tiny Southmont Borough, there were several contests for borough council, a thankless task on many levels, including the verbal abuse received at monthly meetings.

Most of the candidates were familiar faces. One newcomer joined the fray, a neighbor of mine. I couldn’t bring myself to vote for him since he goes by one last name on things like ballots, and another on social media.

I asked him about this several weeks back and got what I considered a non-answer.

I went with the incumbents and it wasn’t merely because the leaf collectors were out and about today after a hiatus due to broken equipment. That equipment, a glorified vacuum cleaner for leaves, still is said to be broken. This left collection to be done with rakes, shovels, a backhoe and a truck.

Incumbents also largely got my vote for Westmont Hilltop School Board positions.

Once again, I voted for Tom Chernisky for Cambria County Commissioner, and not because you can’t read a newspaper, watch a TV broadcast, or try to look up car ads on social media without seeing his smiling face.

Chernisky is a Democrat and I’m a Republican, but unlike most Democrats I know, I am willing to vote for someone in the other party if they are the best option.

I didn’t vote for Chernisky’s running mate, nor for the incumbent Republican. We could use some legitimate political diversity, not just someone identifying as a Republican while voting Democratic.

Along that line, it is disappointing that so many candidates have cross-filed and carry both Republican and Democrat credentials.

The choice for Cambria County District Attorney was simple. Incumbent Greg Neugebauer, having both the Republican and Democratic nods, was the only choice, other than writing in someone. But I think Neugebauer is doing a good job, so it was easy to pick him.

Ads for Neugebauer pop up almost anywhere I go on the Internet, even today. Greg, you could have saved some money and still won – that’s presuming you are going to win.

Court positions, once not a high-profile part of the ballot, have become so due to radical far-left judges beginning to take it upon themselves to turn their courtrooms into political operations.

It’s happening nationally and in many states. I don’t want it happening in Cambria County, so I voted for conservative picks here.

As for state-wide posts, I voted to install or keep conservative judges and oust a left-winger.

While departing the polling place, I stopped outside and signed a petition calling for less gerrymandering, the political setup of voting districts specifically to favor one party or another.

Upon coming home, I did some more research. I’ve seen some give and take on the group, Fair Districts Pa. Having gone to its web site, a red flag went up when they acknowledged a significant out-of-state contribution from the Ben and Jerry’s Employee Foundation. The ice cream gurus are somewhere to the left of Bernie Sanders on the political spectrum, and have the same state, Vermont, as their home base.

If Ben and Jerry and Bernie are associated with it, run the other way.

I’m confident my signature on the petition won’t do much harm. I’d certainly never vote for any of their progressive claptrap mislabeled as nonpartisan.

I can only imagine what election day is going to be like next year. Will Clueless Joe survive his own party’s plans to dump him? Will Donald Trump be stuck in legal purgatory and unable to run?

Will Republican election observers be barred from proceedings, and/or sent home only to have massive suitcases full of ballots pulled from under tables and run through scanners? Will there be another manufactured scare to mandate voting by mail?

Most of all, will people accept the outcome of our next major election? Spoiler alert: No.