If you’ve been to a comedy club more than once, there’s a good chance that at some point the comedian and the crowd have had to deal with a heckler.

Now, sometimes the heckler can be used for comedic fodder. They say something, the comic strikes back, the crowd laughs, and hopefully that’s the end of it.

But sometimes the heckler just keeps it up, and it loses its appeal. The crowd starts to turn on the heckler, and in extreme cases, the disruptor is removed from the club.

Sometimes the comic can get the crowd back, and sometimes they can’t.

I thought of that analogy today after an exchange I had with a friend on election day about the state of our government.

His exact quote was, “Someday the Dems will need to get organized if they ever hope to rebalance our government. I’m not sure winning Congress does that anymore.”

My response was that the moderate Republicans and the moderate Democrats have got to get loud. I pointed out that the loud extremes are taking over the parties, and that I believe that the loud extremes are in the minority.

The loud extremes had a victory on Tuesday night when the Republicans nominated Scott Petersen for Secretary of State instead of the incumbent Bob Evnen.

Petersen is one of those loud malcontents on the right who keep casting doubts on the integrity of the elections.

I find it funny that President Trump and so many of his followers keep beating the drum of unfair elections when they win so many of them. They have never been able to show any proof of massive voter fraud, but that doesn’t stop them from continuing to shout that the sky is falling.

If I ever get the chance to speak to Scott Petersen, the first thing I’ll ask him is if he feels like his victory was won fair and square or if there was some nefarious activity afoot. I’d ask him how he could run a campaign insinuating that the elections can’t be trusted, then accept his victory with a straight face.

In my past life, I always worked on the elections as a member of the media. I’d be on the air giving the results and interviewing the candidates. But I’m not doing a daily broadcast anymore, so for the first time in my life, I volunteered to work the polls on election day.

I’m guessing most people think that the volunteers sit behind a desk in the precincts to check IDs and hand out “I voted today” stickers. I thought that’s what I would be doing when I went online to offer my services.

But volunteers do so much more than that. I was paired up with another person to pick up the ballots at one of the remote drop-off locations.

I saw hundreds of people in all age ranges and all political beliefs working together to make sure the ballots were collected and counted fairly. They all had specific jobs to do, and they took them seriously. The atmosphere was friendly but professional. I saw democracy in action on a firsthand basis.

A heckler at a comedy club doesn’t have the nerve to get up on stage and try stand-up on their own. They sit in the dark and shout. They think they’re funny without having any idea all it takes to develop an act and get up there and do the actual work.

I wonder if Scott Petersen has ever worked the polls. Has he ever seen all the people who take their jobs very seriously? Has he ever seen all the eyes that are on every aspect of the process to make sure the elections are accurate and fair?

There’s no guarantee that Scott Petersen will win the general election. Sarah Slattery is the Democrats’ nominee, but it will be an uphill battle for her to win a statewide race.

As I look at the results of the primary election, I’m convinced more than ever that the moderate Republicans and the moderate Democrats have got to get louder. They have got to pay more attention to the primaries and get off their couch and vote.

Otherwise, the hecklers are going to take over our government, and that will be no laughing matter.

Tom Becka is a long time Nebraska broadcaster who for over 30 years has been covering Omaha and Midwest issues on both radio and TV. He has been a guest on numerous national cable and news shows, filled in for nationally syndicated talk radio programs and Talkers Magazine has recognized him as one of the Top 100 talk show hosts in the country 10 times. Never afraid to ruffle some feathers, his ‘Becka’s Beat’ commentaries can be found online on Youtube and other digital platforms.

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