When to be political

'Tis the season.  The campaign signs are popping up everywhere, just like dandelions.  The junk mail has ticked up a notch.  The television ads aren't in full swing yet.  Neither are the radio ads.  I'll probably just watch and listen less in the coming few weeks leading up to the primary.

This is the height of "caveat emptor" - buyer beware.  Unfortunately, I'm hard pressed to find a "Consumer Reports" for the political class.  It seems that we are expected to go by what's on the label - with which ever label each candidate chooses to affiliate themselves.  However, ingredients vary widely.  Just because a person comes with a Democrat or Republican label, doesn't guarantee that they are lock, stock and barrel in the bag for their respective party.  And sadly, what about those who just don't fit neatly into the mold.  Those are the ones that I would like to hear more about, since our current options are less than desirable.

I am proud to say that I haven't voted for a mainstream party candidate for president since Reagan.  I never voted for any Bushes and I never voted for any Democrats.  (I would quite possibly have to give up my birthright if I did.)  I voted for Ross Perot, because I liked his ideas and the fact that he was not a career politician.  For president (and any other office for which there is one running) I will almost always vote for the Libertarian. 

So I give in to that label perhaps.  I would prefer to think of it as a "protest vote." 

So why am I sharing all of this?  I would like to think that I was raised to be polite and maintain a certain level of decorum.  In polite society, one doesn't discuss religion or politics and I tend to abide by that guideline ... unless someone asks.  And then if it appears that the person has inquired to merely pick a fight, and all efforts to remain civil are pointless, I cease the discussion.  It takes two to fight and I am not going to be one of them.

For the most part, I believe it is possible to agree to disagree.  At the same time, I will not force a person to believe a certain way or vote a certain way and I expect the same respect.  Perhaps in the course of the discussion, we may both learn something.

Regardless of party or philosophy, the point of elected office is public service.  And I will give you an example of what I am looking for when it comes to a basis for assessing a candidate.  Please note that this is not meant as an attack or heaven forbid, an endorsement.  It's merely my observation.

There is a candidate for the county commission district in which I live.  She happens to be the incumbent.  I did not vote for her in the last election.  And I won't vote for her in the coming election either.  And I'll show you why:

The sign says "Let's Keep Commissioner Gail Hambrick - Committed to Community"

These signs are placed all along this stretch of residential road in Ms. Hambrick's district.  Maybe it's just me, but I would be embarrassed to associate my name with this particular community, especially if I were touting the fact that I'm "committed to community."  The weeds, the tall grass, the broken glass on the sidewalk, the litter.  (You can't see it in the picture, but there's even a condom wrapper lying nearby.)  What kind of community is this?  A pretty run-down, undesirable one, I'd imagine. 

I live in this neighborhood and walk or ride or drive this stretch of road every day.  I've gone through there on occasion and picked up litter.  I have even been waging a personal crusade against the random illegal sign posters, selling everything from carpet cleaning to cash for junk cars, pulling them up as fast as they place them.  (For the record, I do not touch the campaign signs, as I know that is a "no no" - unless the election is over.  Then they will go into the trash, right along with reunion t-shirt man and anointed hands moving service signs.)

The county does a pretty lousy job of maintaining the roadside in general.  When the grass does get mowed, they just leave the tall clippings laying on the sidewalk, counting on the wind and rain to clear it off.  We're talking 12 plus inches of grass - it would take a hurricane to get that stuff off of there.  Can't the county just break down and buy a damn leaf blower?

You may consider this a trivial issue to complain about, especially when compared to crime and the economy.  Yet this small thing is one of many small things that adds up to big things.  Who would buy a house in THIS neighborhood?  How would a criminal treat the people who live in this neighborhood?  What kind of respect does the citizenry demonstrate for their own community when it looks like this?  What on earth are we teaching our kids?!?

Based on this small test, Gail Hambrick fails miserably in my eyes.  She will not get my vote and I would just as soon write in "Mickey Mouse" before I would cast a vote for this politician.  She just paid a lackey or found a hapless volunteer to scatter a bunch of signs, adding to the blight in the community, without giving a second thought about the community that she supposedly serves.

So when it is time to take a stand, that is when I will be political.  And all politics are local.  Whoever is elected president this year, it probably won't make a spec of difference in my life which one it is.  But if I could find a true public servant to serve in my community, I would sleep much better at night in my neighborhood.