I have done it. I voted this morning shortly after 8 a.m., and my wife did so shortly after 9. I was the 56th to vote in our ward; she was the 105th. The old folks who man the tables told me that the turnout was not bad but that it did not compare with that in the general election two years ago. This is pretty much what I expected. I would be surprised if the turnout of registered voters nationwide exceeds 40%. Since 1974, when the eighteen-year olds got the vote, it has never passed that mark in midterm elections.
There is no Senate race in Michigan this year, alas. But the House race here in Michigan-7 is hotly contested. Democrat Mark Schauer, who holds the seat, is up against Republican Tim Walberg – from whom he took it two years ago. It has been a spirited race.
I do not own a working television. We have an old dinosaur, which we use solely for watching rented movies. I want my children to read and read and read – which the two who are older than four do to a gratifying extent. So, I have not seen most of the candidates’ television spots. The material that has come in the mail, however, has been massive; and virtually every time that I go online I stumble across an advertisement targeted on people living in this district.
There seem to be only two issues discussed. Each candidate accuses the other of ruining or wanting to ruin Social Security, and each accuses the other of sending jobs abroad. It is as if no one lives here any more except those who are retired or are out of work.
Something of the sort may, in fact, be the case. Until Nevada caught up with us this year or last, Michigan led the nation in unemployment, and when people start gambling again we will no doubt regain our rightful place in the lead and continue to hold it for a good long time. The automobile industry is not what it was, and I would not bet on Chrysler and Government Motors being around in 2020. Moreover, between 2000 and 2008, the population in Michigan reportedly dropped by 10%. I shudder to think what the 2010 census will show. Here in Hillsdale, over the last decade, seven of the eight small factories that produced parts for the automobile industry have closed their doors. Hillsdale College is now the principal employer in Hillsdale County, and the county has the highest unemployment rate in the state.
Neither Schauer nor Walberg can honestly be blamed for the disappearance of the jobs, but the party to which Schauer belongs has been closely associated in this state with the United Auto Workers – which has contributed more than any other group to the decline of the American automobile industry. Whether this is widely acknowledged in this largely blue-collar district I have no idea.
On the entitlements front, Schauer has to face up to the fact that Obamacare, for which he voted, involves not only raiding the funds supposedly dedicated to Medicare but eliminating as an option Medicare Advantage. On that same front, Walberg deserves praise for pointing out that Social Security in its present form is unsustainable.
In the past, Social Security and Medicare have been sticks with which the Democrats have been able to beat the Republicans. This year, I doubt whether this will work. To enact their agenda, the Democrats had to stiff the elderly – a constituency on which they have relied for more than seventy years. Those under thirty may vote on impulse and emotion. For them, the empty slogan “Yes, we can!” may well have appeal. The elderly are a bit more sober. Experience has taught them that there are things that we cannot do. Moreover, they have learned in the school of hard knocks to calculate their interests with care, and many of them also think hard about the prospects likely to be faced by their children and grandchildren.
My bet is that Walberg wins handily. With regard to entitlements, the Democrats look more and more like the little boy who cried, “Wolf!” Those who play tricks like this too often are asking that their pleas be ignored. That was my reaction to the well-made advertisement that Ursula just posted.
