The two-party system is a joke -- if you live in Yavapai County, Arizona. Almost all of today's local races on the ballot are uncontested races. Republicans dominate the ballot. Does that mean all the good politicians are Republicans, or that Democrats are too intelligent to get mixed up in crazy, smallville politics?
Consider the District 1 Senate and House races. One-horse races until the Dems threw two political nobodies on the ballot with barely enough write-in votes. As seen from the ballot, equal-shot races. But in reality, experienced Republicans and Democrats who have no business sharing the billing.
The Democrats need to take a lesson from sports today -- in order to have a political future in this county. Build a minor league program, a feeder system, so to speak. It's political suicide to say "I'll jump into a House or Senate race with no name, no record, no experience." And it makes the Dems look impotent. However, there are places to gain experience. Coat the local commissions, advisory councils, governing boards and councils with intelligent party members. Of course, none of these races are partisan races, so some intelligent Dems would have fairly equal chances to win or gain appointment.
However, 2, 4, 6 years from now, when these folks have had years of name recognition in the media, and learned about how to build consensus, they will be ripe for moving up into the county and state seats. And another group of minor leaguers moves in. Another 4-6 years, those county and state candidates are ready for Congress, and the farm team players take their spot. A dozen years, and the Dems would be the powerhouse of Yavapai County.
Now is the Yavapai County Democratic leadership smart enough to work for a cause that's not going to be rewarded tomorrow? Or are they content to continue to be rated "L" for Losers, literally?
No comments:
Post a Comment