33 percent voting? We can do better
Americans hear it all the time: We are an angry, divided people.
But we are better than that. And you know it.
The outpouring of respect at the death of Sen. John McCain showed people are eager for a message that speaks to their shared sense of unity, nobility and purpose.
Americans do, in fact, have the power to control our nation’s destiny. They just need to use it.
Consider Arizona’s recent primary election.
A primary-election turnout of 33 percent is being celebrated as record-breaking, with a surge of Democratic voters getting much of the credit.
Bravo to all who showed up to pick candidates for this November.
But hold the cheers, people. Really. A 33 percent turnout means that twothirds of Arizonans were AWOL. That’s nothing to celebrate.
And what about November? Will the majority of people stay home? Again.
In 2014 — the last midterm election — the voter turnout in Arizona was 48 percent.
More than half of registered voters abdicated their role in our experiment in self-government.
Why is that?
Why are so many people willing to let somebody else decide for them? There are many explanations. The campaign season started off with the kind of negative ads that make some people abandon the whole process in disgust.
There is also the hard fact that many Americans are feeling bruised and vulnerable, which does not foster civic engagement.
It’s no wonder. Seventeen years ago, we woke to a nightmare that replays over and over. Those terrorist-driven planes shattered any illusion about being safe at home.
A few years later, the Earth shook again when the Great Recession hit. We lost more than just jobs, homes and savings.
Our confidence, our sense of security took quite a beating.
Americans got on with their lives. We are resilient. We keep going.
But that old Yankee Doodle cockiness came back with a dose of bitterness and an eagerness to find somebody to blame.
Americans became susceptible to those who shout the loudest and use the most divisive superlatives.
These days, it seems that we are united only by our shared sense of suspicion. Yet we are in this together.
And we have a powerful tool that lets each individual express personal choices while at the same time participating in our shared experiment in self-government.
It’s as simple as voting.
The calls to participate come from left and right, because this is not a partisan issue.
Former President Barack Obama said in a Sept. 7 speech at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign: “I am here to deliver a simple message, and that is that you need to vote because our democracy depends on it . ... You can’t opt out because you don’t feel sufficiently inspired by this or that particular candidate . ... What’s going to fix our democracy is you.”
From the other side of this nation’s wide political aisle, Cindy McCain wrote an op-ed for USA TODAY that carried a similar message of self-empowerment.
She said her husband’s message to the nation was simple: “We must join together, shaped by our deepest values of liberty, equal justice and respect for the dignity of all people, hardened by unwavering courage and integrity, and step into the arena to fight for a greater cause.”
The greater cause is our nation. Our government can’t operate as it should — with the consent of the governed — unless people vote.
This upcoming midterm election will determine who fills Arizona’s open U.S. Senate seat; who represents the state in the U.S. House; who is governor, secretary of state, attorney general, superintendent of public instruction and treasurer; and who will make laws in Arizona’s Legislature.
Big-deal stuff.
The Arizona Republic will continue writing about the candidates and propositions on our news pages. The editorial page and our columnists will assess them and offer opinions for you to weigh as you make your decisions.
But it’s really all about you.
It’s your state. It’s your country. You need to say how you want it run.
If you haven’t registered to vote, you have until Oct. 9 to register for the Nov. 6 election.
By getting involved, you are making a choice to exercise your power to influence your government. By voting, you become part of an ongoing national commitment to do better and to be better.
You are proving the cynics wrong.