Congratulations To All Of Us
We’ll wait until our next issue to speak to this past week’s elections. Why rush a reaction when so much of our media’s caught in that fast deadline trap already? Better to sit with the results for a couple of weeks and see what they mean…
In the interim, we do have to hand out kudos to our local candidates for not having run into the hyper-partisan troubles that have plagued other communities throughout the region, state and nation of late. We’re speaking about the failure by many to not even attempt coming to the same table to hold moderated discussions, as once used to happen here in the Route 28 corridor but now, fortunately, seems like a trend of the past.
There were some towns where an entire party of candidates didn’t come forth because they didn’t feel they were invited properly, others where candidates did not want to bide by nonpartisan pledges of civil discourse, saying they needed more time to consider such matters. Taking the cake, in our view, were those who said they had heard the League of Women Voters, who moderate most candidate forums in our area, were a “leftist-leaning” organization and hence suspect. Fortunately, that statement forced a flood of letters and opinion pieces that asked what was “left” or “right” about town and county political positions, as well as why such matters had anything to do with elections where candidates were asking voters to support them as representatives of all voters, and their towns, and not just those of a similar ideological stripe.
Note… we’re not bringing up where these partisan attacks are coming from. It’s more important to note, simply, that they don’t belong in local politics. Just as questions of patriotism and where one stood on issues 40 years ago, or where w=one was born and how long one’s lived in a certain house, mean anything in regards to the jobs one runs to attain.
We are simply thankful these matters did not arise here, this year, And hopefully won’t again, in any of our Route 28 community’s elections, no matter the position.
Better to remember, post election now, that we’re fast coming up on Veteran’s Day. As well as quickly approaching Thanksgiving and the winter holidays.
Congratulations are due to all of us!
PS