Trump effect failed to show up at polls

So much for the Trump effect. For four months the country has been in an uproar surrounding the 45th president of the United States.

A lot of people didn’t like Donald Trump – or what he vowed to do along with the Republican majorities in both the House and Senate.

They stormed Philadelphia International Airport, outraged at a travel ban that many believed went against everything this country stands for.

They held weekly protests at the offices of their local congressmen, irate at the prospect of seeing the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, the signature piece of legislation of President Obama. They demanded answers when it became apparent that the GOP version of health care, the American Health Care Act, would leave many of them uninsured, and many of those with pre-existing conditions facing the prospect of being unable to get coverage or staring at massive price hikes.

They snickered at his vow to build a wall on the Mexican border – and make Mexico pay for it.

So the belief was that this new groundswell of political activism would result in a rush to the polls Tuesday for the Primary Election. Uh, not exactly. Actually, here in Delaware County, voters did what they always seem to do in these off-year, nonpresidential municipal elections.

They stayed away in droves.

Only about 13 percent of those eligible bothered to go to the polls and exercise their basic constitutional right.

Up for grabs on the primary ballots were party slots for a seat on the county bench, two seats on county council, a couple of county row offices, three contested magisterial district judge posts, and a slew of local municipal and school board jobs.

Swarthmore Borough even had a little bit of “sizzle” on its ballot, approving a measure that will end the borough’s long tradition of being a dry town. Yes, you will now be able to get a drink or buy booze in the borough - at someplace other than the Inn at Swarthmore, owned by Swarthmore College and given a special exemption a few years ago.

We wish they could raise a glass and toast a new wave of voter activism. Sadly, those deeply invested in the system more likely will be crying in their beer.

More than four out of every five eligible voters stayed away.

If you’re looking for proof of a new groundswell of progressiveness, or a possible backlash in reaction to the first four months of the Trump administration, you’ll have to look elsewhere. It didn’t happen in Delco.

You could possibly look east to Philadelphia, where Democratic voters turned out and gave Larry Krasner the Democratic nomination for district attorney from a wild field of seven candidates. But even in what was a more highprofile race than normal, turnout peaked at about 18 percent. Then again, in the last go-round for a competitive D.A. race in the city, back in 2009, an even more anemic 12 percent bothered to vote.

It did not take long for some supporters of Krasner, a civil rights attorney and death penalty opponent who based his TV ad campaign on his background representing groups such as Black Lives Matter and MoveOn.org, to make an impression. They chanted anti-police slogans during their victory celebration.

So when is this new wave of resistance going to make its way to the suburbs?

Some Democrats might suggest it already has. Republican candidates who cross-filed in the hopes of winning both ballots – thus avoiding a race in November – were turned away.

That includes wildly popular District Attorney Jack Whelan, who is seeking a spot on the county Common Pleas Court. As expected he rolled to an easy win on the Republican ledger, but fell to Democrat Kelly Eckel on the Dems’ side. Not only did Whelan fail to wrap up the vote, he got trounced by Eckel among Dem voters.

And all three contested races for magisterial district judge races saw the efforts of candidates to win on both ballots fail. All three races instead will feature both Republican and Democratic candidates on the ballot in November.

Don’t look for a much better showing in the fall. The same races will be on the ballot, only with more at stake than merely the party’s nomination.

The real test could come in 2018, when all seats in the U.S. House of Representatives will be up for grabs.

That’s when Delco Congressman Pat Meehan, R-7 of Chadds Ford, Chester County Congressman Ryan Costello, R-6, and others across the region likely will find themselves in the spotlight, in particular when it comes to how they voted on controversial planks in the Trump-GOP agenda.

Both Meehan and Costello voted against the final version of the American Health Care Act, but Democrats were quick to point out that both also voted in favor of it in pushing it out of their respective committees.

But at the local level, in Tuesday’s municipal primary, the vaunted Trump effect was for the most part missing in action.

As were far too many voters.