Tuesday's Tidbits

It has been a long time since I have become excited over an election.  I get concerned now and then, sometimes a bit amused, others a bit ticked off at what candidates say.  For this one, you can add all of the preceding and throw in excited.

I suppose that stems from a number of things.  At the front of the pack, the simple fact with so many candidates running, it makes it difficult to get a good read on what may transpire.  I know the selectman's contest is the only one that has a "crowded" field.  The fact we have the number of contested races that we do does cloud things up.  

Usually you can pretty much figure out who is the front runner in the other races with a little guess work, observation and looking at who has lined up with who.  Not so in all of this year's contests.  You see candidates for one race aligned with supporters for candidates in another race which do not on its face make "political" sense.

You know what, that is a very good thing.  First of all it helps the "fairness" in politics concept.  It shows a willingness for people not to simply adopt the "us vs. them" mentality.  Let's face it, there is a fair amount of that trench warfare mentality going on this year.  

It has been a very long time, extremely long time, since I have seen any group run a slate of candidates.  Let's all not spend time trying to deny it, that is in fact happening.  Neither should anyone protest against this reality.  There is nothing wrong with it.  It happens in a great many places, in a great many elections  at every level.  Just not very often here.

What has been really unique this year, at least at the local level, has been the joint campaigning.  Candidates holding joint fund raisers and doing joint advertising.  There is a risk reward factor to that.  

If the rewards turn out to have out weighed the risks, I am sure we will we this more frequently in the future.  The benefits certainly apply when you have hot issues, such as our little town has had.  People band together under a set of political goals.  They hope to get candidates elected to begin to push through those things they would like to see.  

The risks can be high.  Forget about the technical difficulties with the campaign laws. The "guilt by association" concept most definitely can have an adverse affect.  It causes people to consider not necessarily the merits of the individual, but the beliefs of a group.  

Not so sure either is going to play out to the extent I have heard some talk about, at least not in this election.  The nature of the races are such that most people will tend to in fact look to the individual candidates, as they should.  

The one thing I find about elections is the fact that when the same are over, if one takes a look at who gets elected and how the votes were spread out across the precincts, in the end people shouldn't be too surprised over the outcome.  There are always reasons why people vote the way they do (I know a bit obvious, but looking at the precinct outcomes does provide a lot of insight, at least for me). 

The selectman's race is right now playing out in an extremely intriguing manner.  If you don't follow the online "dialogues" on the various sites and pages, or if you do so only in a limited manner, especially sticking to just your preferred sites, you are missing out.

People should remember the glass house concept.  I have seen several statements against some candidates that can just as equally be applied against others, but have not been made.  I have seen topics of discussions directed at some, but not directed at others, which one has to question why not?

The why not is easy of course.  Why would you go after a candidate you support? The problem with that is when you in fact go after another candidate, make sure your choice is not open to the same attack.

Again, I digress.

Back in mid-February, I had made some personal observations about the races.  Since that time, there have been the several forums, statements, letters of support.  All these things have altered the landscape, at least from my view.  

The outcomes envisioned in February have been altered somewhat.  This Wednesday's forum at West Island should in fact cement the races.

There are certain "precinct" dynamics that would normally come into play and make the guess work easier.  The hot issues however have a tendency to blur those lines at time.

I have been asked several times, what I plan to do if so and so gets elected to this or that office.  Pretty much, my plan is to say congratulations, and then get back to doing what needs to be done.

Do I care who gets elected? Of course.  Am I going to go into a tail spin if my preferred candidates do not win?  No.

The outcome in several races is going to be determined by the size of the turn out.  Plain and simple.  If there is a turn out in the 30% range, and assuming that percentage is fairly level in all precincts, then this one becomes pretty easy to predict.  If  certain precincts turn out in much higher percentages than others, well then we have a wild one.

Speaking of precincts, and more specifically, specific areas, if you have any doubts, or are still undecided, try to in fact see the West Island forum.  It is usually a good one; occasionally a bit spirited; and, always important.  Miss it as a candidate and you are likely to lose out on a significant chunk of votes.  Miss it as an observer and you usually are hearing about something good at the water cooler.