Jonathan McNiven
Well, Folks, we are now two weeks into election season and 80% or more of Yellowstone County voters turn in their absentee ballots by now. As I write this column, I’ve still got to turn mine in but it will be turned in before this column is sent to the printer. On a national level, the push is out there to get your absentee ballots turned into the election’s office for a number of reasons.
- The conservative media is on message together telling everyone everywhere across the country to vote early. One of the reasons is that they can tell how many Republicans have voted compared to how many Democrats have voted. In the past, Democrats have been the ones to vote absentee ballots in bigger numbers than Republicans in general. However, it is being reported the Republicans are voting way earlier this year than in years before.
- By voting early, it can give the Republicans a good standing and representation of where the polls and voters are right after the polls close in each state. This way, the national media is saying that it will be harder for Democrats to “try and catch up” or “cheat” as they say. But ultimately, I believe the more that Republicans vote early (across the country and especially in swing states) will basically secure the election as voting early eliminates the risk of something happening on election day like a big snow storm or a personal health emergency arises or even an outlandish national emergency like an EMP that mysteriously appears so I can understand why the national push by conservative and Republican candidates like Donald Trump are pushing everyone to vote early.
As for Montana, Vote No on all the Initiatives CI-126, CI-127 and CI-128. Our newspaper endorsed Tim Sheehy in September so I hope you see the importance of that race in Montana on a national front. If Tester gets back in there and the Democrats take control of the senate, they will impeach the President Trump so it won’t matter if Trump gets elected but in Montana, Vote Republican. I wonder if it will be a complete red wave. Only time will tell.
Lastly, as we get closer to the election, I’ll get my big picture of the iceberg ready as I relate the iceberg analogy to this election. If only I can see the tip of the iceberg and what people are saying, imagine what you can’t see or hear. That’s why I’m trying to listen and asking even those outside my bubble to see what they think and what they are hearing. So, I’ll give you my prediction in next Friday’s November 1 edition of the Yellowstone County News.
Until then, see you in the paper and on www.ycnsports.com.
JDM
