Election Day.

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5 important state and federal races tomorrow. Not a fan of hyperbole. So no, “this is the most important election of our lifetime!!” rhetoric here. Now, I’m not discounting the election. Certainly not. I just believe every election and every vote is important as every cycle represents an opportunity to change things for the better. 
 
One thing I won’t do is hit a button for “straight ticket”. Even if you select all candidates from one party, take the time to choose each race individually. If only symbolic. These decisions are too important to choose candidates based on party alone.
 
I’m working a poll in Lower Mac the entire day in support of 2 candidates and 2 only. Marty Nothstein and Pat Browne. I’ll be voting in all races but working for these candidates because they put local interests above national partisan politics.

Marty.
Marty’s accomplished some of the same things we accomplished in Lower Mac. He found creative ways to reduce the property tax burden for homeowners, while restoring funding to the farmland preservation program. Also moved forward the critically important renovation of Cederbrook, the County nursing home. The public home is the last line of defense for our most vulnerable seniors.  
 
Pat.
Pat’s again running a local campaign for state office. A good thing. His opponent, a campaign almost entirely focused on national talking points and wedge issues. The saying used to be ‘all politics is local’. Somehow over time we’ve abandoned that. I blame my own party in part. It was 1994 when Newt Gingrich effectively nationalized 435 formally locally-based congressional seats. Everything became about national talking points about wedges. Pat generally doesn’t play that game.

Was disappointed his campaign was so careless to hit send on a negative mailer that turned out to be false. I despise negative campaigning. Even if I get why people do it, (Spoiler alert, it works. Learned that the hard way) but there is a difference between negative and false. If your gonna do it, make damn sure your right.

In the future to be honest, I’d support a primary challenge from a qualified candidate. These positions should not be lifetime careers and Pat has served for a very long time. I hold a core belief in term limits. For this year though, the Democrats nominated someone who has not shown voters anything of substance relative to the unique issues of the Lehigh Valley, (traffic, infrastructure, growth) Lower Mac (preservation, unfunded mandates etc) or our Commonwealth. (skyrocketing property taxes)

So, I’m voting and publicly supporting a candidate who has and will continue to be positioned to deliver for the greater Lehigh Valley. Pat Browne has and will continue to.

 

As for other races, I have no strong comments. Only that I hope folks have done their homework and that end of the day vote for people, not parties.

Read an article today, The Sad Death of “All Politics is Local” that inspired parts of this. Timely find because I was thinking about the same thing.

I do hope someday voters re-focus on the unique culture, needs and issues of their local community and take a hard look at which candidates (regardless of party) will serve those needs. I’ll leave you with this.

America, owing to its Founders’ vision, started out with a local and regional first-past-the-post system that makes (what the Founders thought would be) only occasional allowance (war powers, foreign trade and treaties, and eventually judicial review) for strong federal action. Unfortunately, as it stands today, we currently have the worst of both worlds. It would be wonderful to see an off-year election where local concerns and voices were truly “centered” in the discussion, a midterm that truly put 500 or 600 local spotlights on the individual and unique needs and cultures of individual communities and people, and truly reflected our diversity. Not a hyped-up online and cable smackdown referendum on the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Enough of the virtue-signaling, prattling, and pandering about things of which, at the end of the day, local candidates have no control.