Candidates Show Lack of Commitment
By: Barb Consiglio
Updated: April 30, 2010
DUBOIS, CLEARFIELD COUNTY---With only two candidates for Governor showing up for a public forum in DuBois Wednesday night, voters were left wondering how much politicians care about Central Pennsylvania.
Taxpayers United for Representation Now, or T.U.R.N., is a local organization whose goal is to inform people about political issues and candidates in Pennsylvania, but they say they can’t relay candidates’ positions on the issues if they don’t show up to our area to express them.
Members say the candidates who skipped the forum in DuBois Wednesday sent a clear message to voters.
“I would rather vote for a person that I knew cared enough to actually be here,” said T.U.R.N. member, Scott Boyer.
They say the candidates might be more interested in visiting the big voting blocks in metropolitan areas, but that low voter turnout in our area isn’t helping.
“They may feel that there’s not enough votes in the area to warrant their trip to the area,” said T.U.R.N. member, John Balliet, “But that goes back to their philosophy of how they feel about the area in general.”
T.U.R.N. is hoping to get people to the polls on May 18 for the primary election to show politicians that our region deserves to be represented.
“I’d love to see everybody just show up and they don’t know what to do next,” Boyer said.
But whatever the reason is that candidates are neglecting the area, T.U.R.N. members said their absence says a lot.
“You run into a lot of people that truly feel that when they won’t even bother to come, that they’ve either taken their votes for granted, or they don’t care about the rural vote,” Balliet said, “Or on the other side of the issue, like with the Republican Party who endorses their candidates, they feel that their endorsement means that they don’t need to communicate with the people properly.”
T.U.R.N. members say the only way to change candidates’ minds about how important Central Pennsylvania is to their campaigns is to get involved in the political process and, of course, show up to the polls on Election Day.
