My dad used to tell me political parties really don’t matter in town elections; that everyone is basically on the same page, and ulterior motives and party alignments are not nearly as prominent as on the national level.
Everybody working for the common good of community and all.
That is such bullshit.
In my town, Newtown, Connecticut, instead of Vote “insert name here” the signs almost always say VOTE REPUBLICAN or VOTE DEMOCRAT and the name printed almost as an after thought, like the person doesn’t really matter.
Which really bugs me.
Seems a bit weird that, well, republicans would want to advertise the fact, given the current line up of potential commanders in chief parading like they all climbed out of the same clown car to audition for a (scary bad) reality show we all can’t stop watching.
And in my very red town, it seems the democrats might want to soften their allegiance to their party in order to persuade others that they too have good ideas worthy of listening too.
As I drove around the state pre-election day, this didn’t seem to be the case in other towns. Political signs lined roads and clogged intersections, but other than grandiose branding and my own design prejudices, the party was left to the eye of the beholder, with only the candidate’s name and seat advertised.
As it should be.
Vote for the person you think will best do the job, and supports what’s important to you and your community, not the overall wish list of a campaign so far removed they have forgotten what matters in the day to day actions of your town.
A couple friends reached out privately and asked me specifically regarding the gun stuff, who should they vote for? Like most townies, they know many of the candidates, but the gun thing matters.
I love that.
So I told them, to the best of my knowledge, anybody but “insert name here.”
A couple presidential elections ago, my very conservative friend (not an oxymoron) said,
“Kate, we both want the same things. We just have different ideas of how to go about getting them.”
I wish.
It’s a sad state of affairs when the people (or friends, neighbors, and colleagues) are lost amongst the party, and the best candidate wins or loses because of prejudices not of their own making.
In my humble opinion.
Spot on, as usual, Kate. : )