Democratic Party
Ninth District Harris Green

Voting: the Primary Is Not Secondary

As we Americans struggle to make our democracy work, we get confused by the byzantine array of primaries and caucuses and polls and straw polls that beset us. One gets a headache trying to keep up with the process. But one thing we must keep firmly in mind is that the primary is not secondary. That is, what happens early on in the election process determines the outcome of the general election. Many of us tend not to get very interested in the preliminaries not only because they are so complex, and often offensive, but also because they are so far in advance of the actual election.

Regardless of our party affiliation or lack thereof, all of us should be keenly interested in the Republican and Democratic nominees and any independents who might join the race. We must not think in terms of "winning" or "losing" an election for our candidate, because in the final analysis all of us win or lose depending on who is elected. We must never forget that we are all in this together. And since the president of the United States is the most important leader in the world, every person on the planet is impacted by our choice of president.

Because of the importance of our selection, we must think not in terms of which candidate suits our particular needs but of which would make a good leader of the world. Senior citizens, for example, shouldn't focus solely on what the candidate will do for Social Security or Medicare. Members of labor unions mustn't over-emphasize job creation and protection. Our primary considerations should be world-wide and long-range issues, such as world peace and global warming.

Given that our early choices are very important, how do we sort through the barrage of information and misinformation to make an intelligent choice? Listening to candidate messages is of very little value, unless we watch and listen for how they handle themselves. Much more important than what a candidate says is the how. Does he or she stumble over words? Look uncomfortable? Appear to be posturing? In short, the medium a candidate reveals is often more important than the message.

To get at the message, the voter must rely on neutral sources that give a thoughtful and thorough analysis of the candidate's positions. The voter may trust the Washington Post or the New York Times or National Public Radio for such analyses. Or he may trust a local source such at the Atlanta Journal Constitution. A traditionally reliable source of unbiased, perceptive analysis is the League of Women Voters, which has both male and female members and takes pride in its neutrality.

Even though it is easy to become fed up with the circus we call primary elections, we voters must soldier on and do our best to keep the primary from becoming secondary so that the best candidates are put forward for the general election in November.

Harris Green grew up in south Alabama then joined the Navy. Following military service, he went to college, became a teacher, and retired as Professor of English. After retiring, he cowrote Our Finest Hour, a musical/ theatrical tribute to the World War Two generation.

His novel Chinaberry Summer is about the residents of Riverton, Alabama as they deal with the effects of the Great Depression and World War II, and the advent of the Civil Rights Movement and the Cold War. He and his wife Annelise live in the mountains of north Georgia with their two dogs and two cats.