Early warning signs

Our state primaries were held yesterday, and despite the rampant anti-incumbency sentiment in our part of the state, most of the status quos (or should that be statuses quo?) all held. Of the local races involving incumbents, one in this county and another in Niagara, the challengers lost. In the Niagara one, for State Assembly, the challenger specifically called out his incumbent opponent for being a hack beholden to the downstate political machine, and vowed to stand up to it if elected (thereby guaranteeing himself no re-election support, no Lulu money and an office overlooking the State Capitol garbage incinerator if not actually in the incinerator). He lost, but got 43% of the vote, such as it was.  In the other, for State Senate, the leader of the local anti-incumbency movement put his own money and reputation where his mouth is in challenging the most entrenched Republican from our delegation. He was defeated more soundly, but here's why the sound of it sucks so much.

In the latter race, Dale Volker's "mandate" consisted of fewer than 5,700 Republicans voting for him in his primary. His district has more than 83,000 registered elephants in it. So the reform crusade was defeated, for now, because almost 90 percent of the eligible voters didn't bother to voice their choice.

That is unacceptable, people.

If you don't want this pattern to repeat in two months- where everybody complains about the incumbents but nobody does anything about it- if you're not already registered to vote in November, get your ass to this site, enter the info, and do it. Then, on November 7th, spend the ten freaking minutes it'll take to find your polling place and change the way things are. Because if you let 5,700 Republicans get their way in one district in backwater Buffalo, think of the damage millions of them can do.