Accidents in politics are analagous to a 14-page schedule for a Chinese fire drill:
Barely possible, but neither reasonable nor likely, according to a scientific poll of former Mrs. Noonans.
It is conceivable, as School Board member Karlo Silbiger wrote yesterday, that a flock of Nancy Goldberg fans bullet voted for her — ignoring the second Board seat that was open because, by golly, they did not know a darned thing about Laura Chardiet or Scott Zeidman.
There are six newspapers in this pocket-sized community.
Unless you are a recently beheaded paraplegic whose wheelchair burned to the ground last year or a Democrat, you probably held a vague awareness of the charms of Mr. Zeidman and Ms. Chardiet.
Living with constant and immediate media, even liberals know they can’t walk from the kitchen to the living room without friends 560 miles distant conceivably watching them on a secretive camera.
A blue-haired old lady or two with a severe drinking problem who loves dipping snuff and getting high on Election Day, may have been among the mystery voters.
If the ghostlike bullet voters, who seem to have heavily favored Ms. Goldberg actually did so, praytell, why did they choose her?
Even if betting is against your cultural curiosities, you may confidently wager that all 6,000 or 7,000 voters from last week peeked just a little bit at one of the six newspapers before going to the polls or voting absentee.
Unlike old days, absentee voters are truly dedicated types. They mean to make an indent on the election. They have candidates in mind and reasons for backing them. They are not mere left-wing lollipops. They are informed.
Coincidental or an Early Warning?
The good fortune that sprang Ms. Goldberg into office last week was not dissimilar from her September experience at the Democratic Club’s endorsement meeting.
By any objective measure, Ms. Chardiet and Mr. Zeidman gave superior presentations.
For being comprehensively informed, they were so far above Ms. Goldberg that jets could have flown through the space and never been heard at the Vets Auditorium.
Yet they were also-rans.
It was a waste of their evening to visit the club. They never had a chance. Conversely, Ms. Goldberg could have stayed home and been endorsed.
The endorsements were not based on the presentations or anything that was said.
Ms. Goldberg, a lovely lady as we often have said, was the overwhelming choice of the Dem Club.
Mr. Zeidman and Ms. Chardiet did not come within 10 miles of qualifying for an endorsement even though they were so well informed and so articulate neither was stumped even one time that night or during the campaign.
They could have talked to the Democrats all night and still gone away hungry.
Must have been a coincidence that the Democratic Club meeting and the election turned out the sane way.
