Editorials

Historians and professors are apt to wax eloquently about civic virtue and personal responsibility on election days. Their opinions are often couched in patriotism and our nation's embracing of the democratic spirit.

Elections — national, state or local — are the bread-and-butter element of America's form of government, they often say. On that, of course, those high-falutin' historians and professors get it right.

So, go vote. It's that simple.

It's Election Day in Calhoun County, and this page cannot issue a strong-enough appeal — no, make that a plea — for residents to take a few minutes and visit their local polling place. Let's hope that the remnants of Hurricane Fay, while making this week dreary, won't birth a low turnout at the polls in one of the most compelling collections of municipal races this county has recently seen.

Will Rogers, that great conveyer of the American spirit, perhaps put it best when he made this comment about the relationship between those who cast votes and those whose names are on the ballot.

"Anything important is never left to the vote of the people," Rogers said. "We only get to vote on some man; we never get to vote on what he is to do."

Alas, that's the great caveat of today's elections. Cities all across Calhoun County — from Oxford to Anniston, from Jacksonville to Ohatchee, from Weaver to Piedmont — are holding mayoral elections, most of which have incumbents on the ballot. City Council seats, valuable commodities in all towns, are up for grabs. In Anniston, Board of Education slots are being contested.

Candidates have been stumping for votes for months. Some races have been particularly testy — if not downright nasty. And, as Rogers' quotation explains, there's no guarantee that those elected today will produce on their lengthy lists of campaign pledges.

Nevertheless, today will shape the development of Calhoun County's next four years.

This county, full of promise and pride, rife with concerns and ailments, deserves leaders brave enough to lead and smart enough to make compromises when needed. Demagogues and political firebrands aren't attractive.

What is appealing is democracy, one vote at a time.