Years ago, I noted that in political ads, Republicans would say they were going to work for you, while Democrats said they would fight for you, and I far preferred the former, for the good of the country and the national discourse. Now Republicans are advertising themselves in "fight" mode almost as much, and I still don't like it. If you are working for me it is likely to involve some confrontation and resolve, but I trust you to get more accomplished in the long run working, whatever short run victories you achieve fighting.
One of the candidates for a local primary has decided to go negative in a big way against another Republican, and I will not only not vote for her in said primary, but she has shot to the top of the list as my contest to boycott and vote for no one in the general election. It is an exercise that likely benefits only me, but I think it valuable nonetheless. PJ O'Rourke wrote Don't Vote, It Just Encourages The Bastards (lovely blurb) semi-seriously, while Daniel Schwindt's Don't Vote, It Only Encourages Them treated it as a serious proposition, reasoning that voting gives us an illusion of power that puts us back to sleep. I do still vote, I will in all likelihood continue, as habits die hard. But each time around I consider desisting from this except in local races, in hopes that it might force me to do something stronger. While it is always possible that my vote will matter this year or in some future election, in nearly fifty years there is not one race where it was close enough that my personal vote mattered. It is worth reflecting on that. Voting is a statement to myself plus a few around me.
The NH presidential primary is 18 months away, and a few candidates have shown up quietly to speak to a group here and there. It used to be in full swing for only the 11 months prior, but I expect it will ratchet up significantly right after the November elections this time. It has been getting earlier every cycle anyway, and this one is going to be interesting on both sides. It may finally be the weakening of the primary system this time, as campaigns are so entirely national and media-driven now that the advantage of a smaller, microcosmic race is ebbing. We used to scope these guys and gals out for the rest of you in our walled garden up here, but that's not so much the case anymore.
9 comments:
I like to listen to local radio when we travel. If you get rural enough the radio news is very good. They actually cover county commissioners meetings in detail among other things. It struck me that the votes were on real things and the politicians took them seriously. So the vote to by 100 yards of gravel for one back road maintenance task was reported and people knew who voted for what. The more local the responsibility the better. The true local villains are known by every one as well as the hard workers. It doesn’t mean the choices are any wiser, but there are few people to blame
I tried to vote in 2020. I drove to the poll 3 times and each time, the parking lot (not a small one!) was completely full. When it occurred to me that walking from my house would not be that much further, I decided not to vote. It's not like it would have made a difference in this particular precinct anyway.
Last Tuesday was the municipal election for school board and city council. Not much of a turnout but there was a school board candidate that I very much wanted to lose, so I voted for his opponent who won with 66% of the vote. I even risked a fine from the HOA by putting a sign up for her in my yard. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who didn't like his strident one-note campaigning on discipline!discipline!discipline! He also made disparaging remarks about her, such as "Why is she even running? She's too old to have kids in school."
My preferred candidate for city council didn't make the run-off, but my second choice got 46% of the vote. I think I'll risk another HOA fine and put up a sign for him. His opponent just retired after 35 years as a city employee. He's probably a decent fellow, but he's come out for a massive increase in public transportation city-wide, which is not feasible for this area, particularly for this district -- it's a geography thing.
There are some state constitutional items slated for the November election which I need to look into -- but it's 300 pages of dry legalese and... well, I'm going to try to figure it out. Preliminary perusal is that it's 'mostly' OK, but no constitution needs to be that long, does it? The length is partially due to repetitive items, but mostly it is because of items pertaining to specific counties. That seems like a legislative issue to me, not constitutional.
National politics is just crazy right now. Too crazy for popcorn.
I tend to think of it as a gigantic nationwide polling exercise, sort of like the Census. Given the kind of data mining done on voting results, even with the rather crude methods used in the past, your individual vote can be an important data point even if it's not decisive in any particular race. The margin of victory means something to somebody even if no politician acts like it does anymore.
It was probably inevitable that Republicans move toward the 'fight' pole, given the prevalence of extremely vicious and personal attacks against them.
Try to imagine being of a right leaning persuasion voting in the California primary. By the time the candidates got to me they were winnowed down to I could vote McCain or Romney. Neither time did I feel the slightest urge to vote in the primary and still didn't in the election. Why bother. I think the primaries ought to be on the same day in every state. Ditto the election. Let all of us have a vote on who represents us in the election.
My thoughts on this have not changed since I relocated to Ohio.
Did you miss this one?
New Hampshire United States Senate Election, 1974: Second Recount
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Louis C. Wyman 110,926 49.6618%
Democratic John A. Durkin 110,924 49.6609%
American Independent Carmen C. Chimento 1,513 0.68%
Plurality 2 0.0009%
Turnout 223,363
AVI, are you familiar with the Free State Project? Apparently thousands of libertarian minded people have been moving to New Hampshire with a view to influencing local politics with their small-government ideals. A recent article in the Concord Monitor describes (very disapprovingly) FSP people trying to privatize the Gunstock Recreation Area. It's a good example of how a very small number of voters can have a large effect on policy. I'd be interested in your take on this.
@ Michael - That was the closest, perhaps the most accurate, of the counts. I returned to NH just after that and participated in the runoff. Yet even there, one vote is not two or three. I suppose even saying out loud to a small group of people that I was/was not going to vote might swing another vote in the same direction. Yet even that isn't a guarantee.
@ JKS - I liked the idea of the Porcupines coming to NH, but have not been impressed with the results. By its very nature it attracted people a higher percentage of people who are just nuts in various ways. I think they misunderstood the type of libertarianism that prevails here, or perhaps just assumed that we would like theirs. Anarchist types and Sovereign Citizens showed up and expected that the NH courts would either A) recognise the great wisdom of their approach or B) be completely buffaloed by their superior constitutional knowledge. I think their overall tugging of the legislature in a libertarian direction might be a net positive, but this year two of them pulled a sneaky move in a small town, putting in a radical change in the town's education system by surprise at the last minute. I actually liked a lot of the idea, but doing things that way won't fly in NH. A special new budget meeting was arranged and they were downvoted in the 99-1 range.
To David Foster's point, Biden, in the context of gun control, again threatened people who disagree with Democrat proposals to ban certain firearms with the full force of the US military if they object.
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