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medpundit |
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Wednesday, November 01, 2006While the national media are giving much attention to the gubernatorial and senate races here in Ohio, neither seems to be much on the minds of the people (that is, my patients). Not that they're apathetic. Not by any means. One of my patients pointed a finger at me after I told her she needed to be admitted to the hospital and said, "Just get me out by next Tuesday. I'm voting no matter what." I didn't ask which way she was voting, or which race she felt so strongly about that she would drag herself from her sick bed to make it to the polls, but if the other patients are any indication, it's mostly the local and state issues that are driving them. We will we be voting on whether or not to raise the minimum wage. That will pass. Most people are employees, not employers. They see the minimum wage as a reflection of their wages. If the minimum goes up, so will theirs. (Though I suspect it won't quite work out that way.) We will also be voting on two smoking bans. One bankrolled by a tobacco company, the other the project of anti-smoking groups. Clever tobacco companies; if both pass, the less draconian tobacco company sponsored amendment wins. People who read the newspaper know this, and they aren't amused by the antics of big tobacco. Even the smokers expect the totalitarian ban to pass. I've had an upswing in people asking for pharmacological aids to quit smoking because "they're going to be social pariahs in a few weeks." Why the silence on the race for governor and the Senate? Well, the average voter isn't as partisan as the political activists who feed the stories to the news media. Truthfully, there isn't much difference between Mike Dewine and Sherrod Brown. They are both a politician's politician. The only difference is that Dewine is pro-life, and Brown is not. Brown's fortunate that the average voter doesn't know the company he's been keeping on the internet. It will be close, but it will go to Dewine. His incumbent advantage will save him. And the race for governor? It's between a cipher and a nut. I'm voting for the nut, but expect the cipher to win just because he's white. Racial prejudice still runs silent but deep in this state, especially among older voters. Oh, well. At least the cipher keeps his distance from the nutty internet wing of his party. posted by Sydney on 11/01/2006 09:58:00 PM 2 comments 2 Comments:I'm impressed: you're the first person I've read who's predicting a DeWine victory. I thought Mr. Brown had a lead way outside the margin of error, but who can tell with polls these days?
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I'm in a state that is usually overlooked, except now our Senatorial race is a dead heat. I've done so many telephone polls that now I question the pollster- about affiliation and who's paying for the poll. I only participate in the ones that aren't likely to be push-polls. During the last week, the calls have switched from polls to "get out the vote" encouragements, so we don't actually answer the phone anymore.
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