I like Matt Owen, the 20-year-old IUS student who’s running for mayor of Jeffersonville. I just won’t vote for him. He’s not in my party.

Last week, Owen shocked the entire area by announcing he was running for the position. I’ve lived in Jeffersonville my whole life, and the whirlwind of support and media attention he is getting is something I’ve never seen before.

So, young Democrats, where have you been these days? That could have been you.

You guys slept through the last mid-term election. I know you aren’t lazy. I know you still care as passionately about the issues as you did before. I know the hope and optimism that beamed out of you is still there.

The idea that your effort, your organizing and most importantly your voices were being heard is just as important now as it was a few years ago.

When President Barack Obama ran, I heard stories of voters waiting in line around the courthouse to vote early. “They were lined up all the way down the hall,” an elections office worker said.

I was at a Clark County Democrat meeting recently, and someone said when the GOP comes out, you can guarantee they come out with their boots polished and marching to the beat of the same drum.

They had one goal in mind, and that was a takeover.

They knew what they wanted in the last election, and you can damn well bet they got it.

Clark County used to be a primarily
Democrat-voting county. Local officials were either true Democrats or Republicans who swallowed their pride and changed their party in order to hold an elected office — the latter really annoys me, by the way.

But those days are long over. Slowly but surely, the Democrat stronghold started to thaw.

To the credit of the Clark County Republican Party, they knew when would be the right time to come into office and takeover.

Immediately after President Obama took office, the right began to strategize. In Clark County, the Republicans were fortunate to ride the wave of opposition that surrounded national issues, and it worked.

Voters walked up to the booths, took out their frustration on the Obama administration, and the local Republicans capitalized from it. Hard.

But, I must admit I’m impressed with Owen’s desire to get out and challenge the conventional idea of a political candidate.

He isn’t a product of a political assembly line. He isn’t a publicity stunt, and he certainly knows how to get everyone’s attention. It’s just a shame he isn’t running as a Democrat.

Like I said before, I like Owen. I just won’t vote for him. He’s not in my party.

By MATT CHINN

Website Editor

mchinn@imail.iu.edu