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October 31, 2005

That pesky thing called an election...

Yup. It's coming up soon. And since North High Point's Ward 6 doesn't currently have a city council representative, it should be of interest.

Our election guide to the High Point races ran on Sunday. I can't link to it because it didn't make the Web and the file would not reproduce well in the blog. So I'm sorry about that. But if you missed Sunday's paper and are interested in the election go find one, either at the library or on the shelf somewhere. Edit: Or Here . Apparently I just didn't know where to look on the Web site.

Being new to the area I found it somewhat useful. It seems to me that a lot of the candidates who are facing each other have an awful lot of the same ideas. Of the folks running, I've only met a handful. (Three to be exact and I've exchanged e-mails with a fourth.) So for me, the voter guide was a chance to learn about each of the candidates.

Looking at the answers, and hearing a lot of the same things over and over again, it made me wonder if those kinds of election guides help a whole lot. I think they probably do, since anything you can learn about candidates before voting is important.

Outside the mayoral race, I'm not sure I saw any clear distinctions between the candidates aside from how well reasoned their answers were. Then I thought about one in particular who rushed to turn in his survey at 5 o'clock the day it was due. I was the only reporter here and he handed it off to me. We chatted about it for a bit. Politicians get tons of those questionaires from various groups, newspapers, League of Women Voters, etc. etc. I know filling them out can be a hassle when you're trying to run a campaign, hold down your day job, and respond to all the inquiries. So when you see short answers, you have to wonder, is that what the person really wanted to say, or only found the time to say.

In the end I think it's an important service.

I know that if I were going to vote, the guide would've helped me make my decision. (Here's a little secret: many reporters don't vote. I'm among them, at least when it comes to local races involving people I cover or can reasonably expect to cover. Even though you're the only person who knows what happens when you get into that little booth, it feels awkward to take part in the decision on whom you'll have to work with, especially when you do your darndest to maintain objectivity.)

Anyway, I thought I'd ask for your thoughts on the voter guide. What could we do to improve it next time? Did it help you make up your mind?

Posted by Jonathan Jones at October 31, 2005 11:16 AM

Comments

John,
you set a bad example. Everybody should vote regardless of what they do.

Naughty boy!

Posted by: Bad example at October 31, 2005 12:11 PM

"Many reporters don't vote"--where? On Mars?

I don't believe this at all and think that you're sadly mistaken if you think your job at the News & Fishwrap is so powerful that is puts you in some elitist group of "too good to vote". What a bunch of crap.

Go vote! My god our service men are giving their lives to help foreigners out to vote without getting shot and you think your reporter status is some reason to pass on your American right?

You're a disappointment.

Do reveal what Ward you live in so when a candidate loses by one vote we can blame YOU!

Posted by: Jonathan is VERY bad at October 31, 2005 12:57 PM

No JIVB, not Mars. Although I look forward to the day when we can visit. Here in America. It has nothing to do with believing I'm too good to vote or that somehow my job is all important. It has to do with maintaining objectivity. To be honest, it's frustrating at times.

And like I said I only exercise my right not to vote when it comes to local elections that I cover or can reasonably be expected to cover.

To each their own, and I'm sorry I'm a disappointment to ya.

Oh yeah, please keep it family friendly. I had to do a minor edit to your comment JIVB.

Ward 5.

Posted by: Jonathan Jones at October 31, 2005 1:08 PM

I guess we can't depend on you to help North High Point to vote Mayor Becky out??

You can't tell me that you can't separate your personal life from your job? What about all the people who work for the government? Do you think they don't vote??? Come on, Jonathan, this is High Point we're talking - small town politics!!

Posted by: votevotevote!!! at October 31, 2005 1:28 PM

By the way, here's some info on a candidate that would truely represent our views in North HP, Jamestown and "outside of Greensboro" but never High Point (i.e. Emorywood)!

(Edited by Jonathan)to read the rest go here:
http://blog.news-record.com/staff/hpjamestown/archives/2005/10/at_the_mall.html#comments

Posted by: North of 311 at October 31, 2005 1:37 PM

No, you can't count on me for that VVV.

I would expect the government workers vote. In fact they can often make a powerful voting bloc, and in states where unions are more popular that's usually a pretty big endorsement.

I wish I could explain how awkward it feels to vote for candidates you're writing about. Even if it didn't feel strange, not voting eliminates the appearance that maybe I wasn't fair in my reporting on candidate A or candidate B.

Well, I had hoped to have a discussion about the usefulness of voter guides. As usual we're pretty far off topic. I appreciate your admonitions to vote, but believe me, you're not going to change my position on that. Besides, I couldn't vote in this election if I wanted to because changing my voter registration wasn't priorty No. 1 when I moved to H.P. in September.

And Nof311, you already posted that on this blog. No spamming buddy.

Posted by: Jonathan Jones at October 31, 2005 1:40 PM

The High Point election guide has been posted to this website. You can find it at www.news-record.com/nr/elections

Posted by: Eric Swensen at October 31, 2005 2:10 PM

No spamming .... just keeping up with the current discussion. Many don't go back and look at prior posts. The text was germain to the discussion.

Posted by: North of 311 at October 31, 2005 2:51 PM

Jonathon,
your posts on this subject are making me feel like vomiting. I cant believe that somebody could be so pretentious.

Posted by: Badexample at October 31, 2005 8:55 PM

What about the Jamestown elections. Any info on those? It seems to be that someone named Ragsdale always wins. Is their any reason behind this other than their name being Ragsdale?

Posted by: truth at November 4, 2005 4:45 PM

Jonathan, you better have a little "journalism" talk with Doug Clark. I think he actually exercises his American right to vote?!! What an idiot! And what a WASTE too knowing that he's wasting a vote on the Smothers person.

Posted by: Voter at November 4, 2005 4:52 PM

Since another idiot has been appointed to lead this very informative blog..I'll take it upon myself to announce the best thing yet to NHP, next to all the transplants that is, it's BW3!! It's coming to the strip near the Palladium!!

Posted by: Yummy wings! at November 4, 2005 10:47 PM

Yummy wings,

Thanks for the tip. Yes I see this "very informative blog" has had no new posts since 10/31. It must be a trick to follow the "treat". Or it still proves this is the blog most not read.

Don't forget about Bruester's coming. Now you don't have to drive past three tatoo parlors in Dead City and empty showrooms to get some decent ice cream. A welcome relief since Babci's left.

Posted by: Harlan at November 6, 2005 9:12 AM

Aww Yummy, you're still smarting from my insult of your home-state schools, aren't ya?

You're right though, I should have posted the article about B-Dubs opening on the blog. It was in the paper a little more than a week ago. It's supposed to open its doors to the public tomorrow (Monday, Nov. 7). And it has some nice local flavor, but for the most part it's like all the other Buffalo Wild Wings out there.

Harlan, I'll have you know this isn't the least read blog. We're third from the bottom. Hey, ya gotta hold on to what you've got. In all seriousness though, I'm still trying to figure out the time balance I need for reporting duties and getting stuff up here without being repetitive. I promise to update more frequently in the coming months.

Posted by: Jonathan Jones at November 6, 2005 11:39 AM

Voter, I didn't mean to imply that all journalists don't vote or even shouldn't vote. My point was that I don't feel comfortable voting in races that involve folks I cover. And Mr. Clark is in the editorial department, so there is no conflict in him being paid to express an opinion and then exercising his opinion on his own time.

Posted by: Jonathan Jones at November 6, 2005 11:41 AM

End the kidnapping of our children!

Posted by: VOTEBROWNWOOD at November 6, 2005 7:41 PM