Friday, December 30, 2011

How Much Power do Voters Really Have?

I read an article in the New York Times today that made me question the legitimacy of our political system even on a local level. You can find the article here. The article says that Mayor Rahm Emanuel used his political power to get Peter Coffey elected as ward committeeman in Chicago's 47th ward.

Alderman Ameya Pawar did not support the mayor's choice for ward committeeman saying that "it would have been nice to let the voters decide who would have been the best committeeman." Isn't the whole point of an election to let the voters decide who to elect? The article is titled Neophyte Runs Into Realities of Politics but why is this a reality of politics? Does it have to be a reality of politics? This seems to be another example of the shady politics that have gone on in Illinois. After reading this article, the Blagojevich scandal starts to make more sense. If these politicians can get away with things like choosing who the next candidate is going to be, why can't they take it a little farther by making people pay to play?

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