Apathy reigns at North Pointe

"How's the turnout?" I asked at North Pointe Elementary School near Hebron when I voted just before 5 p.m. today.

"Very light," was the reply from the poll worker, which was somewhat obvious since I was the only voter present at that moment.

I thought to myself that part of it was that Democrats tend to be lonely people in Boone County, and the Clinton-Obama race was getting all the attention. That wasn't very relevant in a Republican primary.

Still, the Republicans who didn't vote were missing an interesting, close race for the State Senate between Charlie Walton and John Schickel. There is no Democrat running. This is game, set, match. And I guarantee you that Charlie Walton or John Schickel will affect lives in Boone County more on a daily basis than the next president. Or maybe the eligible voters don't care about schools, roads, economic development, casino gambling, toll bridges or taxes.

If you were a registered Republican, you had to be aggressively apathetic to ignore the race -- unless you depend on broadcast television for all your information. The Enquirer and Community Recorder both covered it. Candidate forums were throughout the district and aired on cable channels. Signs were up all over. Automated phone calls were ringing throughout the district. Mailboxes were flooded with direct mail, particularly from Charlie Walton, a school principal who had a lot of overt support from fellow education professionals.

So ends my annual "we take voting so much for granted/we deserve what we get" rant.