Well, it's that time again: time for all of the concerned, infuriated and despondent citizens of New Hanover County to come together and vote in the municipal elections; or, conversely, time for all of the amateur naval-gazers, inchoate policy wonks and morally-paralyzed humanities majors to cease their indictments of hegemony, heteronormativity and Hegel long enough to explain why they totally forgot to vote.
As a bartender and possible alcoholic, I spend several hours a week listening to passionate conversations about how dissatisfied people are with the direction Wilmington is heading in. I overhear a lot of grousing about Brian Berger, or the snail-pace of downtown construction, or the Faustian bargain Wilmington is negotiating with tourism. These conversations usually end in desperation, despite the fact that the prognosis and treatment of Wilmington's political diseases are straightforward, albeit difficult to realize. It's as if we keep forgetting that the Municipal Government has power simply because it is where politics happens. It's as if we keep forgetting that Municipal elections are won and lost based on hundreds or tens of votes. It's almost as if we imagine that Ghoulsby has carved the political realities of Wilmington into stone tablets and placed them on Front and Market in order to obstruct street performers.
I hereby exhort all of my disempowered friends, followers and zealots to take a look at the links below and make up their minds. Then, I challenge you to go out to the government center and cast a ballot. Then, I implore you to repeat this next time around. Even if no candidate meets your unrealistic standards, I'm sure that you will be able to distinguish that some are less dreadful than others. At the very least, we can refuse to vote in the Bergers, the Wieners and the Bushes (basically any political dynasty with a noun as a last name) and vote in the people who cause the least amount of damage.
For the WHQR Candidate's Forum, Click:
http://whqr.org/post/watch-whqr-wway-wilmington-city-council-candidates-forum
For the Star News' Coverage, Click:
http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20130928/ARTICLES/130929639
To look up your voter information:
https://www.ncsbe.gov/VoterLookup.aspx?Feature=voterinfo
