A Small Voting Victory

 It's hopeful that all four amendments on the state ballot today failed. Though some of them dangled enticing treats (e.g., a pay raise for teachers), such lures hid several sharp hooks that would have snared citizens. Our GOP Governor wanted more power. The people denied him this power, contrary to his apparent expectations.

I'm especially heartened Amendment 3 failed. It would have, essentially, made it easier to prosecute juveniles for a wider array of crimes. That 65% of voters said no to this gives me hope that the culture of justice-as-revenge-on-those-I-hate may be losing steam. 

So much of the Trump administration's actions seem predicated on revenge against those Trump perceives as having slighted him: people, law firms, companies, universities, and whole countries and international organizations. Trump acts like a petty bully; this we knew already. 

The really depressing part was how many US voters seemed happy to endorse that bullying. Decimating federal government agencies, firing qualified people for random reasons, and choking off research funding? Just what those stupid bureaucrats deserve! Disappearing people from other countries--even those here legally and legitimately--without due process? Screw 'em! Threatening universities and colleges? Love those know-it-all elites' tears!

I think we're starting to see some pushback even from Republican voters. This is especially so among those who find themselves directly affected by DOGE cuts and anti-DEI purges. John Stoehr, editor of The Editorial Board, however, argue that such stories do not indicate conversions to left/Democratic causes--just disillusionment with Trump. The woman CNN interviewed for the story, a Trump voter who lost her job due to DOGE, regrets her vote now. But, Stoehr skeets, "She expected the government to cut out people who do not belong, that is, cut out “waste, fraud and abuse,” and now that she has discovered that she is among the 'undeserving,' she is experiencing cognitive dissonance." She voted for Trump three times, Stoehr observes. Her problem isn't that Trump wanted to go after/take revenge on people; it's that she personally got caught up in those targeted people. For Stoehr, Democrats must focus efforts not on converting or appealing to voters like her--that's not a winning move for them. Rather, the aim should be to discourage her from supporting Trump. "Stay home if he's on the ballot" makes for a better and moer reachable goal.

Stoehr's rationale here presumes that Trump voters will never share the ethical stance Democrats might wish them to have--Perhaps it's wrong to treat people unfairly even if we don't know or like them. I don't know about that. 

Maybe people voted down Amendment 3 just because they hate Amendments, or hate Landry, or just hate change. But maybe, just maybe, there was something in them that militated against the idea juvenile offenders deserve harsher and longer sentences. 

I'd like to think so.