Local politics matter

This is why every single thing you can vote for, be it federal, state or local, matters.

Lessons from the "All politics is local" file - Barry vs. Ford

The Marion Barry sting.

Yesterday I wrote about the small conservative South Carolina town that rebelled against their mayor in support of an openly gay police chief that he had fired.  One of the lessons from the issue that I neglected to point out was that local activism will usually result in a more immediate change or have a stronger impact than trying to do the same at a  statewide or national level.  Enough local impact combined can then have a statewide impact and so too national impact down the road.  After all, the local story about the police chief actually bubbled up to the national level.  Liberals use the slogan "Think globally, act locally" to considerable effect.

Today I'm sharing another example of "All politics is local", with a different lesson attached to it.  

Lessons from the "All politics is local" file

From South Carolina, comes some local interesting developments that have some broader truths underlying them.  The story via ABC:

When openly gay police chief Crystal Moore was fired by a mayor who condemned her lifestyle as "questionable," she feared her two decade career in law enforcement in this town was over.

Then, this conservative, small town rebelled.

The people of Latta, who voted overwhelmingly for a state amendment banning gay marriage eight years ago, turned against the mayor, stripped him of his powers and the town council rehired Moore. They said her dedication to the town mattered more than her sexual orientation.

The truth - true conservatives are not concerned about someone's sexual orientation but rather, they are concerned about government OVER-oversight and encroachment on liberty.  It's evident in the town's reaction to the firing of Moore.  Government, of any polticial persuasion, does not, opr should not, have the right to condemn or restrict someone's personal orientation using a government office as a big stick to do it.

The mayor was wrong.  Conservatives in town are rightly concerned about whether the police chief was doing a good job, which she was, and not her personal orientation.  So the town admonished a politician who had previously been popular enough to run unopposed for his office.  

While the mainstream media may portray this as an awakening of conservatives to the realities of the 21st century, that is not the case - it`s just liberal spin.

Yes, there are social conservatives, and many of them are also fiscal conservatives.  Not all fiscal conservatives are social conservatives. (Full disclosure - I would consider myself socially predominantly conservative and fiscally fully conservative). But real conservatism does not seek to impose itself upon those with differing views.  It seeks to enlighten, and challenge people.  Just as Christianity does.  Unlike some other religion, it does not seek to impose itself.  Force removes choice, which removes free will, which removes the ability to have faith.

Conservatives have become more enlightened over the decades, but not by progressive liberalism - rather by the more libertarian live and let live rationale.  So long as your lifestyle does not impinge upon mine, or harm anyone, then you are, as Milton Friedman would say, `Free to Choose`.  The people of Latta have proved that conservatives get that.  They may not bow to political correctness, but they do know what is right, and they act accordingly.

In politics, brand matters. TIP: brand is local.

Proving that brand matters, an endorsement from a Duck Dynasty star made a difference in a race for Louisiana's 5th congressional district.  This is not something to simply be shed as unimportant - brand is the currency of politics these days.

An unknown political novice who has never visited Washington, D.C., won a special election for Louisiana's 5th District seat Saturday on the endorsement of the “Duck Dynasty” family and a promise to fix Obamacare.

Vance McAllister beat establishment candidate Neil Riser, a state senator, in Saturday's runoff election created when former Rep. Rodney Alexander resigned on Sept. 26 to become secretary of the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs under Republican Governor Bobby Jindal.

Back again - assorted quick hits



Quick hits eye candy?



I haven't had a chance to blog in a few days and I missed it.  I'm back again today playing catch up.  Be prepared for some quick hits type thoughts and not detailed essays today.

 

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The Virginia governor election is tomorrow.  There's talk that Terry McAuliffe, the Clinton ally Democratic nominee is reportedly tanking in the waning days of the campaign and Republican nominee could steal the election from the heavily favored Democrat.  As much as I'd love to believe that, I don't buy it.  We were told by many pollsters that Mitt Romney was going become president in 2012.  He not only lost, he lost dramatically.  Until I see a win, I'm not counting it.  If the election were to be held in another 2-3 weeks, I'd be willing to believe that McAuliffe could fall far enough fast enough to secure a GOP win.  Right now, I'm more than skeptical.

 

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All politics is local.  That does not change.  Tea Party supporters who believe that we should run ultra-conservative candidates in Vermont because it's the right thing to do, miss the point that politics is a long haul game.  You can't win it in a single election.  Liberal Democrats took decades to get the country into the mess it is in today and it can be fixed all at once because people's perceptions about right and wrong took decades to change in sufficient numbers and will take a similar amount of time to change back.  But Tea Party supporters aren't alone in their desire to be right about conservatives winning elections.  Liberalesque Chris Christie believes he knows better than the GOP how to win elections.  Tactically, he may have some credibility.  The problem with his notion is that while it may work in New Jersey, that same logic may not apply in Alabama.  All politics is local is still true.  Just like 50 different states can come up with better, more specific solutions to needs than a one size fits all solution (like for healthcare) winning elections takes effort at as local a level as possible.  Obama won in 2012 by taking the approach that an individual is as local as you can get.  They used regression models to target the most likely unlikely voters.  The future of elections borrows from the past.

 

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With cratering public approval the Obama presidency has entered it's waning phase, also known as lame duck status.  Or has it?  Adding to the NSA spying scandal (clearly first among the plague of Obama scandals), the Obamacare website woes, and the shattering illusion of keeping your coverage and keeping your doctor under Obamacare have hit the president's job approval hard.  He's at 40% popularity.  Liberal satirists don't mind poking him now and again lately.  They are preparing to turn their attention to electing Hillary Clinton in 2016.  But the president understands that he's no lame duck.  The polls that counted have already happened in 2008 and 2012.  Yes his influence is waning but he's no lame duck.  He's got court justices to appoint.  He's got an agenda to try to fulfil.  He's got executive orders, and vetoes and pardons to dispense.  He's got fundraisers and speeches he can use to try to continue to shape public opinion in 2014, and 2016 and indeed beyond.  Wait until liberals have an Obama legacy to canonize - he'll be in vogue again in 2017.  And he can clearly still continue to have an impact on America until at least 2016.  Sadly for the country the impact is a very negative one, even if not all voters realize it yet.