MOST THINGS CONSIDERED
By:Minx McCloud
The ubiquitous election signs have been appearing throughout my neighborhood lately, so I know it’s time for to head for the polls and try to decide which of my local politicians is the right person for the job.
It’s not an easy choice in my town, where all involved seem to have the town’s best interests at heart. However, I must say that all those little "Vote for" signs don’t sway me in the least.
One of my friends in New York always puts up a sign in his front yard supporting the local incumbent party. He swears that when it snows, he’s the only one that doesn’t get his driveway plowed under after he’s already shoveled it. When garbage is collected, his cans are always placed neatly at his curb.
Of course, we’re talking about New York. That would never happen in an honest state like New Jersey.
Frankly, I think it takes a tremendous ego to put a sign on your lawn. It means that you believe your opinion to be so important and yourself to be so highly regarded in the community, that what you think actually means something to your neighbors.
There’s only one guy in my town whose opinion matters to me. He’s an elderly curmudgeon who hates everyone and actually wrote a letter to the newspaper threatening to have trick-or-treaters arrested this Halloween if they "trespass" on his property.
I always drive by his house to see whom he’s endorsing. If I’m planning to vote for the same guy, I sit down and seriously re-evaluate that politician’s platform.
(Naturally, if you’re a relative of a candidate, you must display their sign. I imagine Thanksgiving dinner would be a bit of a sticky wicket if the entire family had not been visibly supportive of Uncle Frank’s effort to be elected dogcatcher.)
| There’s only one guy in my town whose opinion matters to me. He’s an elderly curmudgeon who hates everyone and actually wrote a letter to the newspaper threatening to have trick-or-treaters arrested this Halloween if they ‘trespass’ on his property. |
My neighbors and I don’t really discuss campaign issues. Above all, we are happy and content in our small town, and as long as things run smoothly, we really don’t care what party does what.
This is a nice testament to our town, but feeling too secure can be a negative when it comes to voting intelligently, because one person seems just as good as the other, and that’s not always true. Still, those of us who do vote try to make the best decision based on what we have. We are, after all, often voting for or against our friends and neighbors.
Regarding campaigning, I would like to see a law passed that you can say good things about yourself, but nothing bad about your opponent. Every Sunday, I get a knock on my door from someone who’s running for office.
The incumbents stand on their record, which, in all fairness, is excellent. The challengers make impressive promises that probably cannot be fulfilled unless each resident’s taxes increase by about 300 percent.
The worst thing is, both parties say bad things about each other. I’ve seen kindergartners fighting over a doll who acted more maturely than these folks. Both parties are a credit to our borough normally, but around October, it’s "He said this," and "She said that," and "Oh yeah? Nyah, nyah, nyah."
It’s very upsetting to see adults behave like this, especially when they run your town.
In fact, the other day, in my borough, I chastised one candidate for the direction the election was taking, and this is the guy I favor (subject to change). He shifted from foot to foot and tried to explain what was going on, but it was all the same to me – nasty, backbiting politics, on both sides. We don’t need this sort of thing in our town.
Sometimes allegations in local politics are absurd.
In one borough, supporters of a certain candidate were miffed that his opponent was walking his dog without a pooper-scooper or plastic bag. The gentleman in question insisted that he never carried anything because his dog was trained to poop only on his property. The off-property walks were purely recreational.
A misplaced pile of "doggy doo" – there’s an issue to base your vote on. While this could have escalated into a wildly funny farce, thankfully it did not.
My feelings about local politics wildly fluctuate between amusement and despair. I am amused by the candidates’ rhetoric (or lack thereof) and the ridiculous allegations that are made during campaigning, but I am appalled at the tactics that are sometimes employed.
Often, on the national scene, after the election is over, opposing politicians resume their friendships with each other. My experience on the local scene has been that there is animosity that lives on far after the voting booths have closed. The gossip and bitterness is often echoed on market checkout lines and in the local library, and a town does not thrive as peacefully in such a climate.
Of course, it’s like that in most places, I suppose. When I tell my tales of woe to folks from other towns, they can match me story for story illustrating the rudeness of their local politicians. One fellow said that his normally soporific town is as tense as Belfast in the final days before the election.
We are supposed to set a civic example for our children, and yet, we demonstrate rudeness and pettiness.
How can we expect kids to treat others with respect in their daily lives if we throw our manners overboard during elections?
Minx McCloud is a free-lance journalist who writes about life in New Jersey. She can be reached at [email protected].