At Least Small Town Politics Is Still Fun. I Hope
Posted: Monday, November 03, 2008
by Mike Fak
http://mikefak.com
Well I hope everyone had their say on my last article about anonymous comments. I apologize to those who gave their names and didn't receive a reply from me. I said my piece and gave the floor to others to say theirs and that is that.
I mentioned that a lot of the clandestine comments everywhere have been about the presidential race and within a very brief time, that will end for a while. Until maybe a year from now when everyone starts jockeying to be the president in 2012, I suspect.
In Lincoln we will have a February primary and already four Republicans have stated they will run for mayor, with perhaps two more entering the race and that should be fun.
It will be enjoyable to see political campaigns go back to the basics without all the money, half-truths, no-truths, damnable statements and all the other ugliness we just saw in the presidential race. We will have candidates walking the streets, going to forums, shaking hands and meeting the public without entourages escorting them around. We won't hear any "talking points" and we won't see any heavy-handed criticisms of their opponents outside of the fair one which is, "I can do the job better than that other person can".
There will be ham and bean fundraisers and spaghetti dinners to help pay for yard signs and fliers. Budgets will be talked of in hundreds, not tens of millions of dollars and you will be able to have a personal discussion with a candidate without writing a check or promising a block of votes.
There will be ads placed in local publications but they will all be about the candidate and why we should vote for them, without a dime spent on why someone else is a terrible choice.
It's a small town and lies or half-truths about someone or something that we all witnessed personally won't cut the mustard and thus we won't see any of that in the arguments.
Yes, there will be some chewy moments. When someone is publicly told they aren't as good as someone else or that they did a bad job or can't do the job, things will get a bit sensitive. But for the most case, personalities will take a back seat as issues important to the community get discussed and hammered around. And maybe just maybe, someone will say something about something that will catch the pulse of the town and cause them to make the others try to catch up.
We won't know for sure. There will be no money spent on polls. There won't be much punditry outside of a few letters to editors explaining why their choice is the best. The political conversations about who is best for the job and who is leading will enter the forums of the coffee houses, and donut shops and barbershops and pubs where they originated two centuries before; before we muddled this thing all up and turned politics into a public relations contest where truth takes a back seat to lies, distortions and fearful innuendoes.
Small town politics actually isn't about politics. It's more about people thinking they can help or make something better.
A small town election doesn't have anything to do with money, or power or influence. It has to do with individuals so caring about their community that they are willing to work for low pay or no pay and become openly criticized within their own neighborhood and churches and organizations because they believe they can help more than someone else. A small town election almost brings back the nobility of being a public servant: something that has been lost in the state and national election process.
Yes, I am looking forward to a back-to-the-basics election in this community. I like to think it will renew my faith in the entire process and that it will be a cleansing of the dirt off our hands and faces that even this little community threw at each other during this last presidential election.
I will let you know if I am wrong. I worry that we have let this all go too far and that now life will imitate politics.
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)Aww Mike, you had me pining for Lincoln. I hope you're right about the upcoming elections in Lincoln. Keep us posted, please?Thanks Avis. I will keep you posted...unless they just end up being hum drum nothing worth telling.Mike
I'm sure glad that somewhere politics is still fun!!Thanks Jean...but remember I said I hope.Hopefully this will be a great forum for all the town's issues to be discussed.Mike
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