We have met the enemy: Guess who

In its lead editorial today, the Erie Times-News predictably bewailed the low turnout of voters at Tuesday’s primary election, blaming the weather, voter lethargy and apathy, listless political party leaders and the putative difficulty of contemporary voting logistics. But it neglected to mention one of the most important villains. Itself. Or, as Walt Kelly was wont to say, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”

Kelly’s lack of grammatical finesse aside, the Erie Times-News must take a large share of the hit for voter apathy by continuing its archaic practice of endorsing candidates, which studies show erode voter participation, especially in a one-newspaper town, the city of Erie’s biggest socio-economic and political dilemma. (See my previous posts: Oct. 22, An archaic and arrogant practice; Oct. 28, The Times-News, Tyranny by oligarchy, and Oct. 29, Times-News political endorsements: Throw out the Filters).

By force-feeding readers its own egalitarian choices in its editorial columns, even pasting color mugshots of the chosen few on its editorial page just before the election, the Times-News perpetuates the real perception that the outcome is a done deal, discouraging voters from exercising their voting franchise.

As a simplistic solution to low voter turnout here, the Times-News says: “Right now, Oregon has a working solution to dramatically increase voter turnout. It's called the mail, and we should use it and other creative solutions.”

Wallowing in its political naivete, the Times-News is either ignorant of or indifferent to the well-established electoral reality that the easier the voting process is made, the more susceptible it becomes to corruption and manipulation.