Sometimes it’s the smaller picture

Tired of election coverage?

Join the club.

As someone who has voted in every Presidential election since Ford-Carter in ’76, I’m adamant about not reading or watching anything election-related for the next 48 hours.

That may be easier said than done, because Donald Trump vs. Hillary Clinton more resembles a five-car pileup on the interstate that you can’t help but rubberneck as opposed to choosing the next four-year occupant of the Oval Office.

But in many cases, the voting public in any big election misses the bigger picture, or more accurately, the smaller picture.

A number of years ago when I was cutting my proverbial teeth at a local newspaper, my wizened editor who so often served as a mentor, pulled me aside one election night and explained that too often the citizenry focuses on the larger elections instead of the ones that affect them the most.

A bit puzzled I asked how so?

“Because,” he said, “what happens in Washington doesn’t immediately impact the suburban resident with 2.5 kids and two cars. By the time new legislation is passed, it’s often years before it trickles down.”

He went on to demonstrate that the other races, the ones the general population tends to ignore or automatically pull the lever for Democrat or Republican will more often than not affect them.

He spoke about races for such offices as the state assembly, the district attorney or even local judges, who mandate sentencing guidelines or county executives whose budgets often determine whether taxes go up or remain neutral.

So, armed with that advice, I grabbed my notebook (yes, this was well before iPads or Galaxy Notes) and went to the nearest polling venue and took my own exit poll, focusing on the smaller races.

As best as I can recall, I would say that barely 10 percent of those I interviewed were informed on where the candidates in the lesser-known races stood on any issue.

Since that day, I always made it a point not to get blinded on who headlines the cable news networks or “the wood” (the bold page one headline) in the daily newspapers but rather on those who will have a direct influence on me.

Now that being said, remind me who’s running for President again?