Voter apathy
To The Editor: Re “Squadron beats Connor while Silver holds seat” (news article, Sept. 12 – 18):
Your article quotes Mr. Squadron as follows: “We have really done what we set out to do, and that is to show the city and the state that state government can matter and that you can get regular people excited about the possibility and potential for state government.”
Yet statistics sited in your article contradict his grandiloquence. According to “unofficial” tabulations, Mr. Squadron received 12,912 votes to Senator Connor’s 10,980. New York State Board of Election Voter Enrollment in the 25th New York State Senate District lists 126,707 “Active” Democrats that could have voted in the primary, yet, more than 80 percent of them didn’t. If by beating Connor Squadron proved anything, it isn’t that regular people are excited about state government, rather, given an 18 percent turnout, it proves their indifference.
Billy Sternberg
To The Editor: Re “Squadron beats Connor while Silver holds seat” and “Getting bashed by Sarah Palin and shot by police at the R.N.C.” (news article and Downtown Notebook, Sept. 12 -18):
According to the numbers provided in your article on the election, roughly 10,000 out of 62,000 eligible voters in the 64th Assembly District bothered to vote. Therefore, roughly 11 percent of the eligible voters supported Sheldon Silver. That means that Silver continues to occupy the second-most powerful position in Albany by getting one out of nine voters to support him.
The indifference, cynicism and uncaring attitude of the general population undermine democracy and society. How can our government preach democracy and freedom to the nations of the world when 84 percent of the people don’t vote?
As for the article on the Republican Convention, Nick Brooks describes the scene as “a battlefield.” Smashing windows of stores and police cars, setting off M-80s: Sounds to me like an angry mob venting bitterness in an antisocial manner. There are socially acceptable ways to protest and criticize those in power. I do not see anything constructive or useful in such behavior. If the St. Paul police overreacted or indiscriminately punished reporters and photographers that is wrong. However, there is certainly provocative and illegal behavior depicted here.
If Mr. Brooks wants to elevate our society, why doesn’t he focus his camera on people and organizations seeking to bring healing and light into our society, rather than publicizing mob violence?
Michael Gottlieb
