How many of us have disagreed with the votes of our elected leaders?

I would suspect that each and every one of us has. How often we do and what we do about it is what concerns me. For we often disagree with an elected official’s votes on issues but then decide to cast our vote for that same person at the next election. This is especially true in local elections.

We may do so out of loyalty to a political party. Or because we personally know the person as our next-door neighbor or the person in our pew at church. The personal touch is more important than the votes they render from the dais or chamber even if we disagree.

Why is it that we often vote for people that may seem to espouse our points of view but then, when elected, will do the opposite to what they promised? Politics and governing are two different things. While the elected official knows the difference, those of us who are civilians don’t always realize that fact. Politically, when you run for office, you speak in generalities. As Mario Cuomo used to say, “You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose.”

In Washington and Tallahassee, for the most part, the elected representative has no choice but to vote along party lines if they want campaign funds or to have their bills heard or their projects funded. When it comes to County or City officials, it is just that the average person doesn’t know how their council or commission members actually voted. Yes, it is televised, recorded and available, but how many of us listen, watch, or read the minutes to know what happened at the meeting. Most of us would be surprised by their votes and how different that vote was from their campaign rhetoric.

It is awfully frustrating to know and understand how and why a commissioner voted the way that he/she did. We have so very much to do in our own daily lives. Many Martin County residents no longer read the local newspaper; and every action does not receive media coverage, much less comprehensive coverage. Radio and television coverage are rarely seen in Martin County. We retreat into our shells, look at social media and hope for the best. Besides, we think, “I can vote for the guy that I see in church or at the Elks.”