Flashes of Panic

In 2007, I did something I’ve never done before: I contributed to a political campaign.

No, I haven’t contributed to the money machine of the American presidential campaign. I gave about $100 (total across two contributions) to the campaign of Edwin Mwangi Macharia, who was running for parliament in Kenya. Macharia, a graduate of the College, wound up finishing third of fourteen candidates in the running for the Kieni constituency, a primarily rural Kenyan constituency north of Nairobi. The incumbent was second.

The Kenyan election has made headlines since, of course, with rioting and charges of corruption sweeping the country. This is not uncommon around the world, of course, and the fact that this is happening in a relatively stable East African country (and one which many Americans have at least some familiarity with, of course, through their highly successful export of distance runners) is partly responsible for the attention being paid. That said, Macharia’s roundup of the election is eye-opening. I’ve added emphasis:

“Heavy negative propaganda by opponents as well as significant sums of monies being given to entice voters took their toll but we refused to respond in kind, remembering that principles are only sentiments until they are applied in the face of pressure. In the final tally we came in 3rd, behind the front runner who garnered a commanding lead, and [the incumbent] who despite spending an incredible amount of money the night before buying voters only managed just over 2000 votes more than we did.”

How on earth do you run a clean, principled campaign in a climate where a significant number of voters expect to be paid for their vote? In a relatively poor nation, how do you convince people to cast their vote for you rather than the guy who offered them money? And how do you expect people to have any faith at all in the results? If anything, I’m amazed that the cynicism that system must breed has left enough voters concerned about the results to round up a respectable riot.

And I’m amazed that half of the eligible American voters don’t bother to show up and vote… and to what degree we take for granted what is, despite two hundred years of more-or-less successful operation, an incredibly fragile system.

Now Playing: Half Life from Spirit Touches Ground by Josh Clayton-Felt

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