With the election campaign season soon upon us, here is a quick quiz: What is the difference between a Republican and a Democrat in Upper Bucks County?
The answer: After fifteen years of watching the local political scene, I don't know. And, apparently, neither do many of this area's town politicians and party faithful. Even those who claim a strong loyalty. Here's just a sampling of their responses to " What does it mean to be a (Republican or Democrat) in a local municipality?" Names have been omitted to protect the guilty as well as the innocent...
"Although local government is perceived to be non-partisan, clearly Republicans and Democrats have different agendas." Comment: They do??? Name one agenda item clearly identified with either party in our towns. And, if local governments are truly perceived to be "non-partisan", it is only because we can't tell one from another.
"I feel that local and national Democrats are united by progressive ideals and work for the working class." Nice sentence, but what does it mean? If you are in the "working class", what have local Democrats done - or even proposed - for you? Ever? Or the Republicans, for that matter?
"The Republican party has a more unified platform and organizational structure." While it is true that Republicans have long been in power in Upper Bucks, there is hardly a local "unified platform". Try finding anything in common between Quakertown Borough Council (6 Republicans out of 7) and Richland Board of Supervisors (2 out of 3 current, nothing but Republicans for the past 20 years).
"Since Democrats embrace diversity, the party is comprised of a wide variety of individuals with different beliefs which makes party unification more difficult." Perhaps this is true on a national level, but, locally, what "wide diversity" can you find in a small-town semi-rural area that is 98% white Christian?
"At the local level, it is far more important for individuals to get together to address the important issues, plan for the future, and improve the quality of life in the community. I prefer that any labels, such as Dem or Rep, are left behind." Right on.
"We empower individuals to succeed with the least amount of government interference. Individuals' rights, liberties and properties are continually diminished when citizens are burdened by excessive taxation, inflation, government waste and over-regulation." Amen. But can you tell which party this person represents?
"I do not want to be quoted, as I'm sure I would ruffle feathers from the left to the right and everything in between. A true politician, Republican or Democrat, offends as few constituents as possible.
"Left, right and moderate, local, county, state and feds, Elephants and Donkeys all have serious flaws - which in sum is a reflection of the society we live in. Conversely, I do not see much virtue in any of those entities." Honesty in anonymity. An even truer politician.
"Being a Republican in ***** doesn't seem to be any different than being a Democrat. Our main interest is to run ***** smoothly and efficiently, respond to citizen requests or complaints, and manage the health, welfare and safety of our residents. If a resident is having a problem with noise, water run-off, a burned out street light, vandalism, etc., he/she wants the problem addressed. They don't care what our party affiliation is." There it is in a nutshell, folks.
On the national scene, both parties have history to fall back on. Republicans traditionally champion the rural social conservatives, military hawks, less government, preservers of the status quo. Democrats are urban tax-and-spend liberals, doves, voice-of-the-people activist reformers. Does any of that that help you define our candidates for local office in 2005?
Here, party affiliation means squat. In the borough councils of Quakertown and Richlandtown, or the Boards of Supervisors in Richland, Milford, Haycock, Springfield, and Trumbauersville, I defy you to differentiate a Red from a Blue, or even a Green.
The distinction is meaningless. There are no local issues that define the parties. The key to good local government is the quality of the candidate.
As our area develops, bringing increasingly complex economic, social, and quality of life issues, it is more important than ever that the voters understand as much as possible about the people seeking our votes. This starts with an understanding that local elections are not about politics. They are about the individual candidates.
When companies are selling investments, the law requires them to state something like "Past performance is no guarantee of future success". That may be so in economics, but, in government, the exact opposite is true. We should demand that candidates have a track record of meaningful service - political, social, volunteer. The more the better. Richlanders are seeing the unfortunate and embarrassing result of ignoring this advice in the last election.
And, once the candidate has shown us his/her dedication by serving on volunteer boards, and successfully dealing with issues that are important to us, we can then base our vote on that history. Did the candidate learn enough during the service to offer real ideas? Does he/she have a real plan , a workable plan, not just attacks on the opponent? Has the candidate demonstrated an ability to cooperate with the professional staff, and other volunteers, whose support will be so necessary?
Has the candidate shown personal integrity? What is the history and agenda of his/her supporters? Do you trust the people who endorse him/her?
There are momentous issues, and real questions of character, in several of the area town elections this November. Do yourself, and your township/borough a favor: instead of R & D standing for Republican and Democrat, let them stand for Read and Decide. Sheep get shorn.