You’d think, from the way we all go about the routines of our daily lives with complete faith in the continuation of the status quo, that government just sort of runs on its own. But, of course, it doesn’t. In fact, it relies on we the people going out on a regular basis and deciding who is in charge. We call these occasions elections. And there are many who believe that the efficacy of this election system is responsible for the reasonable level of peace and prosperity in our nation.
Among these is the League of Women Voters. Hence the inclusion of Candidates’ Answers, the League’s public-service publication, in this issue, preceding next Tuesday’s primary. Isthmus works with the League to reproduce and distribute Candidates’ Answers before each election, but the content is solely the League’s product. So the fact that you have this resource is thanks to them, and Isthmus is happy to play a part.
But we have our own responsibilities to readers regarding elections, and we strive to fulfill them through the paper and our Web site, The Daily Page (TheDailyPage.com). In this issue, for instance, we have a sampling from our online school board interviews conducted by staffer Kristian Knutsen. They will be added to questions asked of school board candidates over the past few weeks on TDP.
We’ve also been covering various races, especially the mayoral contest, in the pages of Isthmus, as we’ve always done. As you know, all copy from the weekly now eventually makes it to the Web site, but election-related stories do double-duty. They are aggregated, along with Web features like the school board interviews referenced above, under the title Election Watch.
Election Watch contains all the election-related material we’ve accumulated from both the paper and the Web site. It includes coverage of the school board, by seat, and the common council, by district. There’s also a mayoral stream to help you bone up before next Tuesday.
Isthmus, the League of Women Voters, the candidates, other media outlets, interested parties and kibitzers have done their parts. Now it’s up to you to go out there and do your job in the primary, trimming the field as needed in anticipation of the big race in April. Don’t worry; we’ll be keeping up with the Election Watch until then.
