[tpc] - The Day After Yesterday - An Election Recap

The Piedmont Chronicles   

~ est. 2010 ~

[State of GA]
[Newton Co.]

(North Covington * 11/9/16) -

Well, Nov. the 8th has come and gone and for a lot of folks this was a real shocker. On the national level, I've never seen a more striking duality of mood, with approx. half the population feeling good for things for the first time in years while the other half truly believes the world is coming to an end. It's funny how the 2-party duopoly lends itself to that sort of thing. Regardless, that's the reality of our situation now. The Chronicles would like to congratulate President-elect Trump and his team. Good luck! That wasn't the only thing that occurred yesterday, though, as many things were going on at the state level and also here in our neck of the woods in the home county. Let's proceed to some bullet points: 

• Lost in the shuffle with the surprising (to some) results of the POTUS race was this little tidbit of info: Gary Johnson, the Libertarian, shattered - and I mean totally shattered - all previous records for the LP in a POTUS race. At last count, he was at over 4 million votes for 3% of the popular vote total, tripling the previous highs in both vote total and percentage. The fact that he did this in such a polarized & "everything on the line" election simply speaks volumes in our estimation. Congrats, Gov. Johnson, and I'm so glad I voted for you. 
• A clear message was given to DC last night. Not only did Trump do what the political and punditry class said was impossible, but the GOP easily kept the House and Senate, made gains in the number of governorships held, and made major gains throughout the various state assemblies and legislatures. A clear message was given throughout these United States. 
• On the state level, Isakson won reelection. No great surprise there. Allen Buckley, the Libertarian, hit 4%, a strong vote total for a 3rd party in a Senate Race, but Johnny avoided the runoff by hitting 54% to the uninspiring and non-viable Democrat's 40%. 
• There were also four Constitutional amendments that were on the ballot that TPC had come out against. Unfortunately, only one was stopped - Amendment 1. Of grave concern was the fact that an obviously uninformed Citizenry voted to abolish the JQC in Amendment 3. This will do away with having an independent watchdog of the Judiciary of Georgia and will put this under the control of the whims and politics of the Gold Dome. Very concerning and unsettling. The takeaway of this whole thing is that you have to have money when it comes to these sort of things. It's why 1 was stopped. You have to fight fire with fire, or, out-Georgia Georgia, if you will. Lesson learned... 
• Newton County. Congrats to Marcello Banes for becoming the first black Chairman of the Board. At the end of the day, even though he was kind of an unknown commodity, he was preferable to slightly over half of the population than the known one - Aaron Varner, former Chairman of the Board of Newton Co. When it was all said and done, I don't think Aaron could get over his ties to Wm. Thomas Craig, Bear Creek, what they did to Emmett Denby & and a whole host of other things. 
• Tommy Davis won reelection for Coroner in a 53/47 split. 
• Barbara Dingler won reelection for Tax Commissioner in a 54/46 split. 

For many, just the thought of having this thing behind us is a cause for celebration, and I'm one of them! Glad to be done with the 2016 election cycle, it was a real crapper! My sincere hope is that our country, and our county, can begin to heal and meld and that maybe, just maybe, our best days are yet ahead! My name is M.B. McCart and that's a moment from us...

Til next time, my friends. Be good, or at least be good at it!

Best,

MBM