Is nothing sacred?
We tried to have a nice, innocent Internet poll, and politics just had to go and ruin it.
Our latest survey at HeraldNet.com asked who would get your vote for county executive if the election were held today — John Lovick, Dave Somers or someone else.
We figured “Someone Else” would win. Then I could use this space to crack wise about how Mr. Else (or Ms. Else) would fare while trying to run county government.
“Someone Else will have no one to blame but himself,” I would write.
At first, it went as expected. Someone Else surged to an early lead with about half of the vote while Lovick and Somers battled for second place.
Then something happened: cheating. That’s right. Cheating in a meaningless, unscientific Internet poll. Specifically, ballot-box stuffing. Lovick supporters did enough to put him into the lead, then Somers’ backers did the same. In the end, we are left with a bunch of votes but no idea what voters actually think. It’s like a Russian presidential election.
But before it all went sideways, we did learn there’s at least a solid base of support for Someone Else. Enough, in fact, that if you are thinking about a career in politics, you might consider changing your legal name. It would give you a leg up on the competition if you went on the ballot as “Another Option” or “Candidate X.”
The way things are shaping up for 2016, you could win your way to the White House with this strategy. How does “President None of the Above” sound?
— Doug Parry, Herald Web editor: dparry@heraldnet.com
For our next poll, we want to know what you think of the Apple Watch, which The Herald’s Andrea Brown breaks down for us here.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
