Who Would Have Ever Thought? by Your Publisher Reg Buxton

As I write the following on Election Night, 11/5/24, many thoughts and questions come to my mind. How can Collier County and the State of Florida do elections so well when other states are so disorganized and take forever to get results to the public?

When our forefathers laid the foundation for our democracy, would they have, in their wildest dreams ever thought of the following becoming reality:

• Elected officials who make a full time career out of being elected.

• Name-calling, lies, and cheating have become commonplace among candidates.

• Elected officials would lose sight of why they were elected and who they are supposed to serve.

• Casting a vote could be done over many weeks, not just on one day, making it easier than ever to ensure each voter’s voice is heard.

• The postal service would one day make it so that voting could be done without ever leaving home.

• That journalists and news media would, instead of doing their job to tell the truth, revel in outright lies in their reporting just to drive up viewer numbers and manufacture outrage.

• Some would vote not for a candidate, but, instead, against a candidate.

• Voters would be afraid to cast their vote because it was too dangerous to do so.

• That money, instead of the talent to serve, would be what puts many candidates in office.

I have seen many elections come and go, and each time one does, they move just a little bit further from what they should be. What our democracy that millions fought and died for to protect should be. And it is on nights like tonight that I can’t help but wonder how and why we strayed so far.