Choose Wisely

As the old saying goes, "All politics are local." I learned this lesson firsthand last year when I held a sign in the town square on two occasions for my aunt, who was running for the local planning board. Alas, we came up a bit short on votes, but I do not think it has anything to do with how we advertised. Everyone was very respectful as we stood there and didn't bring unwanted attention to ourselves, which is a something more candidates should consider. You see, much like I think businesses should put some serious thought into who they allow to drive their company cars because those people end up being the public face of the company (bad drivers reflect poorly on the company as a whole), political candidates should be extremely aware is who the people are that are out campaigning for them. You never know if people are going see the whack-job who has nothing better to do on a Saturday holding your sign and associate that person with your campaign. I know major political campaigns can't oversee everyone, but they should still make an effort to weed out the bad seeds. For example, when Obama was running for President in 2009, Lindsey Lohan came out and said she was a strong Obama supporter. Obama's campaign quickly told her thanks, but you're not really helping. That to me showed solid decision-making skills.

Being careful about who is campaigning for you is especially critical at the local level, because if someone is holding a sign for a local election the assumption is that not only are they a close friend and supporter of the candidate, they are most likely related to them. And apples, as we know, never fall too far from the tree. You may not be able to control who puts a sign for you in their front yard, but standing near them and shaking hands is a strong indication you are on board with their participation. The reason I bring this up is because we have a local election coming up next month and the local town square was flooded with sign-holders last weekend. And one particular candidate's crew (I won't say who on this blog, but if you ask me directly I'll tell you) were being particularly stupid. I'm talking walking into the middle of the intersection without waiting for the lights, pausing in the middle of their crossing to stop and yell back a Dunkin' Donuts order, causing people to miss lights and generally being oblivious to traffic and thus in the way.

Now, people being bad pedestrians happens to me all the time, just not usually three times in a one-block drive, so it was a glaring occurrence. Also, when it happens at any other point those people aren't holding a sign asking me to vote for someone, meaning this time I had a name to go with this unpleasant experience. Sure, it's not the name of the people who actually wandered into traffic like idiots, but at the very least the name of someone with whom I now associate not being able to cross the street correctly. As a result, that person will not be getting my vote. Honestly, if you can't pick qualified people to hold a sign for an hour how can I expect you to effectively run a town position? This is why you should always pick your friends carefully, but your sign holders with even more consideration.