The fight for freedom should be invigorating, but it's no longer fun

Election season used to feel like Christmas to me, full of excitement, excitement, hope and surprise. There was a buzz in the air, a certain electricity generated by anticipation and appreciation for the privileges of freedom.

My earliest political memory was hearing my Republican parents discussing Adlai Stevenson and Dwight Eisenhower in front of our black-and-white television. I was seven.

As a Nixon fan, I watched his historic debate with Kennedy and was deeply saddened by the deaths of John and Bobby Kennedy, my childhood friends lost in the Vietnam War. I followed the Watergate hearings and Nixon's resignation. I cheered for my heroes Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King and cried over King's death.

Politics is important to me. They are a public manifestation of private morality. Our choice of leaders reveals our valued personal beliefs. “Politician” was never a dirty word for me.

I made phone calls and knocked on hundreds of doors for Scott Matheson Jr., Scott Howell, Jim Matheson, Carol Spackman Moss, Patrice Arendt, Marie Poulsen, Evan McMullin, GayLynn Bennion and Ben McAdams. Victories were exhilarating and defeats were worth it just to be with people who were passionate about democracy.

But thanks to our Republican legislature's insatiable lust for power, there's no more excitement. After the Legislature's blatant election maneuvering, a Democrat winning any of the four congressional districts is statistically impossible.

Have you noticed how few campaign signs there are this year? In District 4, I didn't see a single sign for any of the candidates.

Republicans are running unopposed in 20 of Utah's 75 House elections.

As a Democrat, I find it terrible to finally give in and ask, “Why should I bother?” It goes against everything I believe.

I'm tired and discouraged. The fight for freedom should be invigorating, but it's no longer fun.

Ann Florence, Murray

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