Only a few days remain before Sussex Countians will go to the polls, Tuesday, to cast votes for officeholders ranging from clerk of the peace on up to president of the United States.
The Cape Gazette published an election guide in a recent issue, this issue includes a sample ballot published as a public service by the Cape Gazette, the Sussex County Department of Elections published a list of polling places in our Nov. 1 edition, and we have published numerous candidate profiles and interviews over the past several weeks. We want our readers to be as informed as possible when they pull the voting curtain behind them.
Candidates have put in their time and effort but it's the voters who will decide. If we want a great country for ourselves and generations to come, we have to weigh in and let the profoundly effective wisdom of the crowds make, hopefully, the best selections for our leadership.
The national election campaigns have been so pervasive and circus-like that they have hijacked much of the energy that would normally be reserved for other races pertinent to voters. In Delaware, the gubernatorial campaigning for a vitally important office, for example, has made barely a squeak amidst the national uproar.
On the other hand, local races for representative seats in the General Assembly and Sussex County Council have been spirited and civil with serious candidates making their cases for support.
Politics in this country, with its freedoms of speech and the press and peaceful assembly, have always been a rough and tumble affair. This year, politics at the top of the ticket took us, ironically, to a new bottom in sleaze and dirty tricks. So much at stake.
But the voters are smart. They will sort it all out, and the country will move on, bruised and battered, sadder for the embarrassing lack of civility, but wiser, we hope, and more free and open than ever.
For this year's election, we endorse the wisdom of the system; but it will only work to its optimum if we take our civic responsibility seriously and vote.
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Editorials are considered and written by Cape Gazette Editorial Board members, including Publisher Chris Rausch, Editor Jen Ellingsworth, News Editor Nick Roth and reporters Ron MacArthur and Chris Flood.
