Handcuffs, Gears and Ferris Wheels

The sound of handcuffs clicking onto more sit-in protesters echoes the grinding gears of North Carolina’s political machinery.
 
Those shackled, disgruntled citizens apparently feel they have no other way to protest how Republicans are treating the poor, the sick, the disabled, teachers, etc.
 
But one reader of this blog writes: “No group is truly as disenfranchised in this state as its 1.8 million souls who are registered as unaffiliated voters. These people truly have no voice. They don’t do sit-ins or Moral Mondays or Frustrated Fridays. Not a single legislator represents their party. When a current legislator dies, resigns or is imprisoned, the legislator’s party leadership recommends a replacement to the governor. Unaffiliated folks need not apply.”
 
He goes on: “Unaffiliated registrations are nearly as large (27 percent vs. 31 percent) in this state as Republicans, who are aggressively changing the political landscape even though GOP voter registration represents only a third of the total registration and that third is split into various fiefdoms and tea parties.
 
“Presumably, people who choose to register unaffiliated do so because of their disgust with the policies and priorities of the Ds or Rs. They are a huge and potentially lethal block of voters who can do more to influence the future of the state than either the Democrats or Republicans. The next big winner will figure out how to speak to them, organize them and get them to the polls.”
 
The inherent instability of this situation makes politics volatile and elections unpredictable in North Carolina. Politics always has been like a Ferris wheel. When you’re at the top, you can be sure of one thing: You’ll soon be headed down.
 
Today, though, the wheel turns faster – and more violently. Those grinding gears you hear – and the clicking handcuffs – warn of big turns ahead.
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Gary Pearce

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Handcuffs, Gears and Ferris Wheels

The sound of handcuffs clicking onto more sit-in protesters echoes the grinding gears of North Carolina’s political machinery.
 
Those shackled, disgruntled citizens apparently feel they have no other way to protest how Republicans are treating the poor, the sick, the disabled, teachers, etc.
 
But one reader of this blog writes: “No group is truly as disenfranchised in this state as its 1.8 million souls who are registered as unaffiliated voters. These people truly have no voice. They don’t do sit-ins or Moral Mondays or Frustrated Fridays. Not a single legislator represents their party. When a current legislator dies, resigns or is imprisoned, the legislator’s party leadership recommends a replacement to the governor. Unaffiliated folks need not apply.”
 
He goes on: “Unaffiliated registrations are nearly as large (27 percent vs. 31 percent) in this state as Republicans, who are aggressively changing the political landscape even though GOP voter registration represents only a third of the total registration and that third is split into various fiefdoms and tea parties.
 
“Presumably, people who choose to register unaffiliated do so because of their disgust with the policies and priorities of the Ds or Rs. They are a huge and potentially lethal block of voters who can do more to influence the future of the state than either the Democrats or Republicans. The next big winner will figure out how to speak to them, organize them and get them to the polls.”
 
The inherent instability of this situation makes politics volatile and elections unpredictable in North Carolina. Politics always has been like a Ferris wheel. When you’re at the top, you can be sure of one thing: You’ll soon be headed down.
 
Today, though, the wheel turns faster – and more violently. Those grinding gears you hear – and the clicking handcuffs – warn of big turns ahead.
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Gary Pearce

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