South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

Voters will have to live with choices they made

Mike Anthony
Mike Anthony

In the months leading up to last week’s elections, the truth sometimes was a victim.

More often than not, it seemed the viciousness that has permeated na-tional election campaigns for years now has come home to roost at the local level given the blatant smear campaigns and the behind-the-scene whisper campaigns some candidates and their supporters utilized this spring against their opponents.

As Election Day drew closer and closer, it appeared that some candidates would do and say anything just to get elected or re-elected, whether it be distorting the facts, lying or attempting to rewrite history. What’s disturbing is that in some cases voters bought hook, line and sinker whatever load of crud some of those candidates were peddling.

We can only guess at what type of promises and deals were made behind closed doors out of sight of the voting public and the press. We can only guess at the unholy alliances some candidates made to bolster their chances of election or re-election.

But the elections are over and the voters have made their choices. That’s how democracy works and congratulations certainly are in order for those who achieved victory April 5.

Another aspect of democracy, however, is that voters are going to have to live with the choices they made no matter how painful they might turn out to be. We believe some voters will be in for a rude awakening when it becomes evident that the candidate they supported turns out to be nothing more than a repugnant puppet of special interests.

As we’ve said before, some of these newly elected or re-elected officials often forget the things they said during the election campaign — the false promises, the grandiose statements, the half-truths and the outright lies they uttered during candidate forums. Combine that with the paper trail many of them left behind in embellished or untrue statements they made in response to candidate questionnaires and they’re going to have one heck of a time upholding the pledges they made to voters.

This newspaper’s statement of purpose reads: “We dedicate ourselves to the public, holding its welfare in the highest regard and standing firmly in opposition to any who would oppose it.” Given that, we will continue reporting to our readers the progress these elected officials make — or don’t make — in keeping the promises they made to voters.

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