Primary Day is here.
Lynn residents wanting to have a say in how this city is run need to get out and vote.
If you are a voter, call three or four voters you know and make sure they go to their ward and precinct headquarters to cast a vote.
In neighboring Revere, that city did away with a primary this year because the city couldn’t afford it – and that, despite a full slate of candidates in a hotly contested at-large race.
Not so in Lynn, where Mayor Edward “Chip” Clancy is facing two opponents – one a relative unknown, a newcomer trying to drive down an old and worn road; the other, an insider at City Hall. David Rohnstock is the newcomer, and Councillor-at-Large Judith Flanagan Kennedy is the insider.
And there are races for at-large and for the School Committee.
There are many reasons to get out and vote this year.
It has been a dramatic year of change in the nation, and locally, where the economy has been stressed to the point of breaking.
This primary will reveal better than any poll that could be taken, how the voters are thinking, how they voted, and who they want in and who they want out – if anyone.
Voters tend not to make hasty decisions before casting their ballots.
However, this year, voters may want to make different choices because voters are upset, voters are harried, voters want change.
Everyone wants change. Everyone wants a return to yesterday when we could go to the bank and get a loan, refinance our homes at a low rate, buy an automobile and toss our kids some money if they’re in school.
Many jobs have been lost since last year.
Many companies have downsized.
Unemployment is up.
New jobs aren’t being created.
The housing market has burst.
And now there’s the primary, which is like taking the temperature and blood pressure of the electorate.
Don’t look for any surprises, although politics is a game filled with them.