We don't often get to say we agree with U.S. Rep. J.D. Hayworth, but when it comes to his refusal to concede his bid for congressional re-election, we have to say that the former sportscaster is dead on.
Hayworth, who is currently trailing Democratic challenger Harry Mitchell by several thousand votes, has yet to announce defeat, even though Mitchell has already flown to the nation's Capitol to go through the orientation process for new representatives.
While the 5,800-vote lead Mitchell enjoyed as of print time may seem large, the number shrinks when it is read in the context of the continued counting, which has yet to take into account more than 100,000 ballots. (See the front page article in today's State Press.)
Fortunately, with Mitchell also refusing to announce his own victory, the controversy has steered clear of partisan name-calling.
Many publications have already taken Mitchell's victory for granted, though, including The New York Times, where Mitchell was quoted in a front-page story, and the far-reaching Associated Press.
The AP has also been reporting that a memo was sent from GOP leadership announcing that Hayworth had lost the race.
The desire to be the first to announce the victors in a hot race is toxic, and the readiness of these institutions to discount the votes of large numbers of Arizonans is disheartening and surprising.
After all, it hasn't been that long since red-faced newscasters had to announce that Florida didn't cast their electoral votes for Al Gore like they'd first announced.
The horse-race mentality many take toward the political process can be found in the all-day election coverage on cable news networks and the pundits who devour exit-poll figures like candy.
This is all likely due to the adrenaline and excitement that the end of an election brings. Political junkies can feel like they're opening their Christmas presents.
With that in mind, it must be excruciating for some people to wait as counters meticulously work their way through the piles of yet-to-be-counted ballots. And on that note, the county's rate of manually counting 25,000 ballots a day seems like a snail's pace.
With some races decided by as few as eight votes, though, maybe a snail's pace is what we need to make sure our democracy is truly based on the majority's vote.
Let's not open our presents too early.
