Tipping the scales

Editorial

According to a midrashic teaching, the scales of judgment are perfectly balanced. A person performing a single sin or a single mitzvah can tip them in one direction or the other.

The image can help us assess the consequences of this week's elections, underscoring the power every voter possesses in determining who wins and who loses and who will be making the tough decisions in the state executive offices and legislature and in the U.S. Congress.

This week, neither major party won dominating power, either statewide or nationally. In Arizona, while the Republicans gained control of both legislative houses, at press time Democratic gubernatorial candidate Janet Napolitano was leading Republican Matt Salmon by 25,000 of 1 million votes cast, while in the race for state treasurer, only 5,000 of 960,000 votes cast separated Democrat Ruth Solomon from Republican David Petersen.

Only in the race for Arizona attorney general did Democrat Terry Goddard win a resounding mandate, defeating Republican Andrew Thomas by several percentage points.

On a federal level, though Republicans surprisingly increased their hold in the House and gained control of the Senate, party politics must take second place to effective leadership.

With the margin of victory at times razor thin, Tuesday's elections testify to the power of neighborhood canvassing, old-fashioned networking, and getting-out-the-vote efforts. Energizing handfuls of voters and getting them to polling places may determine the outcome in the Napolitano-Salmon and Solomon-Petersen races.

Winners and losers aside, the ultimate power in our democracy resides not in our elected officials but in our citizenry - who beginning today can pick up the phone, send an e-mail, and post a letter to our new leaders, letting them know what we care about and what we want them to do to serve our interests in the coming term. It's local, grassroots political engagement.

There's a lot to do.

While the balance of power may have shifted, the urgent issues affecting American lives remain: reversing persistent economic woes; enacting tax reform; addressing corruption in corporate America; providing prescription drug benefits for the elderly; wisely filling dozens of open seats on the federal judicial bench; easing Middle East turmoil; responding to the threat of Iraq; and curbing endemic terrorism.

This week, as we cast our ballots for elected officials and propositions, we voted too against apathy and indifference. We tipped the scales, and democracy won.

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