Does the Union County Democratic Party pay the Worrall Press to run Frank Capece's "Left Out" columns so frequently? If not, perhaps they should consider doing so because, as a stream-of-consciousness apologist for the Democratic political machine, Capece is hard to beat.

Take his latest effort, "The dog won't hunt," which describes the recent municipal elections in Hillside, Scotch Plains and Cranford. He questions the economic feasibility of holding May non-partisan elections in Hillside when only 603 out of 10,050 registered voters actually voted. Attorney Capece - who, incidentally, is employed by the same Union County government he so adoringly defends - says that this last election will have Hillsiders paying over $50,000 in "administrative costs". This is not the first time we have heard this particular tune. Third ward councilmember John Kulish and other township officials have all been singing it for a while.

What are these "administrative costs?" That $50 thousand probably includes sample ballot printings and mailings, poll workers' salaries, overtime for county election employees, town hall being kept open after hours and other more creative billings that we can only imagine. Obviously each registered voter should receive a sample ballot, no argument on that one. But why do we need so many poll workers? Is it really necessary to have up to six (or more) poll workers at each station in an unopposed municipal election? What does town hall charge Hillside residents for their overtime services? Who decides all this? Trace the threads back to the Union County Democratic party boss and construct the web.

Naturally, the Democratic machine would lobby hard for all elections to be held in November when they can count on more of the faithful to vote down the line and, hopefully, blitz any competition. This was the reason why voters approved changing to a May election so that non-partisan elections would have a better chance of remaining non-partisan.

Yet another apologist tactic is using personal opinions in such a way as to be mistaken for facts. Example: "I guess the argument could be made that low turnout equates to the voters being satisfied with the work of their elected officials." Seems to us that the opposite is true. Attend a Hillside township council meeting sometime and see for yourself. The only group swooning over what the entrenched machine has done for Hillside are township employees, contractors and relatives. The "silent majority" stays away out of apathy mixed with disgust just as they do on election days.

Mr. Capece may say "the dog won't hunt," but he should admit that dogs always know when to show up for dinner.