The Word Around Town

The candidates for district commissioner and associate circuit judge for Adair County have been very active on Truman’s campus during this campaign season. Now, it may be they maintained a strong presence at Truman in the past, but since Adair Alerts is up and running, we are much more in tune with the happenings of the candidates during this election cycle than we have been in the past.

Things we know:

• Harrelson and Swaim attended and socialized at both a meeting and a pasta dinner put on by the College Democrats.
• Josh Meyer spoke at chapter meetings of many Greek organizations.

In both these instances, we have to say we were impressed with the candidates. Why? Because they were able to answer the most basic and (what we believe to be) the most important and fundamental question of running a campaign. What’s more, they answered the question before we even had to ask it.

The question: WHY ARE YOU RUNNING?

Both Meyer and Harrelson told us why they were running without any prompt from us or anyone else. This may seem rather trivial, but many candidates running for much higher offices have been unable to answer this question. It’s encouraging to know that these candidates are not just running for the sake of running. They’re not just running for attention, publicity, power or for some strange ego need. They have thoughtful and legitimate reasons as to why they’re running. They have families here; some have generations of family. They are unsatisfied with current leadership. They are ready to lace their shoes, put their game face on, and get to work for the residents of Adair County. And that’s reassuring, isn’t it?

Not only did these candidates answer our favorite question, they were friendly too. When two college kids they’ve never seen before asked for their contact information, they didn’t look at us strangely or ask why we wanted it (to prank call them, obviously). Instead, they handed out home phone numbers, emails, and told us to call them anytime. They may not know what they’ve gotten themselves into because we’re going to call… and email… and ask questions… a lot of questions.

The point that we are trying to make here is that while people may not be as concerned about politics on a local level, interactions such as these can only come from a local level. We doubt that Robin Carnahan would be giving out her home phone number or tell us how to get into direct contact with her at work (like Swaim and Harrelson did). This is such a vital aspect of voter contact and it can happen most easily with candidates that live right next door. 

So to our readers: take advantage of this opportunity! We think you will find that these people are just like you and I and any questions that you may have concerning Adair County can be answered with just one telephone call.

So, what’s to come: interviews, interviews, interviews. We’re setting up interviews to talk to the candidates right now, and then we’re going to talk to you. We won’t censor anything or make it sound pretty. We’re going to interview these candidates and give it to you like it is. Check back soon!