Denis Walsh received 8,510 votes in last weekend’s civic election.Had it not been for his myriad campaign signs around town, Walsh would have garnered one less vote.

Why?

Because the signs exhorting people to vote for Walsh led to my finger grabbing a pencil and shading in the little circle next to his name on the election ballot.

And here’s a little tale that goes a long way to showing why name recognition is the most important quality a candidate has in municipal elections — and why campaign signs will always be the best way to achieve that quality, despite a rather contradictory post-victory stance taken by the soon-to-be rookie councillor.

Bleary eyed and hair askew, my two kids were roused from bed at 5:45 a.m. on election day.

My son had a 7 a.m. hockey game and my daughter had to tag along, as mom was away for the weekend.

Following the game (for the record, a thrilling 14-8 victory by my son’s Kamloops Bulldogs, leading to a dog pile on the goalie to celebrate their first Initiation C win of the year), it was time for breakfast downtown, then a stop at our neighbourhood school to vote before returning home.

Having not cast a ballot since becoming a journalist 16 years ago — I have always preferred to abstain due to my profession, a view that complemented my belief that journalists should remain outside the process, including serving on boards of organizations they cover — I decided to rejoin the democratic process after much thought and reflection on issues such as objectivity, fairness in reporting and editing, civic responsibility and ire raised by some decisions made at city hall.

So, with a few names in mind, and with two kids in tow, I entered the hallowed halls of democracy — on this day, a polling station; on every other day, a school gymnasium.

While we waited in line, I excitedly explained to my offspring how the process worked, pointing to the table where we register, then to the tables with partitions that offer privacy while voting, then to the fancy machine that swallows our ballots and records our votes.

The kids were as impressed as kids can be when they are tired and simply want to go home and relax.

Besides, they have seen IPods, video games and portable DVD players, so a rather mundane-looking ballot-counting machine did not create the excitement it did in dad.

But they hung in there as I registered, grabbed the ballot and found a private place to vote.

They followed and, as I spread out the two ballot sheets, I began filling in a few circles here and there.

Then I stopped and, somewhat in jest, asked my nine-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son if they had a preference.

“Denis Walsh,” my daughter said without hesitation.

“Walsh?” I asked. “How do you know about him?”

“I’ve seen his signs all over.”

“So, you want to vote for Denis Walsh?”

“Yes.”

And, so, Denis Walsh, community activist and business owner, received a vote from my daughter via my right to cast a ballot.

And now he wants to eradicate the landscape of the very tool that likely played a huge role in getting him elected.

Think about it — had there been no signs dotting the Kamloops scene during the campaign, daughter would have been urging me to vote for Obama or McCain.

But if his sister got a vote, my son wanted one, too.

So, this being a democracy, I allowed him to peruse the list.

“Ben James,” he said after a intense scan of the 26 names before him.

“Why James?” I asked.

He laughed as he noted he liked the fact Ben James has two first names.

That actually cracked up my daughter as well.

So, James got a vote, too, one of 949 he received that day.

And Walsh wants to engage in some Orwellian vision-pollution measure?

To quote civic-election candidate Joyce Blair, in her letter to the editor in Friday’s KTW: Shame on Denis Walsh!

editor@kamloopsthisweek.com

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