JUST ONE
In Luray, Virginia this past week, the man who has been the mayor of that community since 1984 had opposition . For the first and only time in two decades as Mayor, Ralph Dean faced opposition. He was challenged by incumbent councilwoman Nancy Shifflett, age 71, who entered into a vigorous campaign designed to “get out the vote/.”
She succeeded,
She got out the very one vote which enabled Mayor Dean to retain his comfortable seat as Mayor. An automatic re-count of all balloting is in place in that Virginia community, and, thus far, I have heard of no question being raised about the final total of votes in the recent election.
So, we can say - once again – say that it really does happen. People can be, and have been, elected to public office by a margin of just one vote.
.
In fact all sorts of great decisions have been – according to published lists – have been said to have been made on a one vote majority. Studies show, however, that a goodly number of such statements are untrue. So many of them have proved to be false that one would be wise to reject all which cannot be proved to be accurate.
It is not true, for instance, that the Military Draft was saved “just a few days” before Pearl Harbor. The vote used was that of a sub- committee deciding if they would continue to discuss the draft and it occurred in August 1941 quite a few days before Pearl Harbor Day. Another has the State of Texas being admitted to the union by one vote. Not true.
It is also false to believe that Oliver Cromwell became the power he once was in England because of a one vote margin, or that several heads of various state have been rolled by one vote against them. .The list gets longer and longer and it is remarkable how ingenious some people have been to get around the points they wished to avoid to prove their claims. There was an elaborate one to show how Richard Nixon lost and John F. Kennedy won by a one per cent margin of every precinct in the nation, whatever such a chunk of figurers might prove.
It would seem to be wise for us to look into anything which claims to have come about though a one-vote margin. Mayor Ralph Dean , of Luray, Virginia, hold his title by good authority.
All others are suspect with me, until I learn how they came to be what they are said to be..
A.L.M. May 7, 2004 [c-459wds]
