New Voting Strategies
The slow but steady proliferation of political signs over the past couple of months heralds our impending local elections for mayor and city council posts in November. Hence, I am trying to learn about the candidates and what they stand for. During my walks in the area as new candidate signs sprout up, I take a photo via my phone and then later look up their online info. Their websites often seem bland and mostly all hit the same points — against bad traffic, supports schools, etc. So, I am broadening my vote-planning strategies a bit.
A couple of years ago, the current city council was considering some measure related to suing / suppressing locals who published opinions in opposition to the council. That struck me as horrifyingly wrong, but there was never any clarity around whether any of the council actually opposed this (in advance of their voting on it). A large group of citizens showed up at their next in-person meeting and expressed vocal opposition, such that the council as a whole slunk away and opted not to press the matter. However, I was left with the opinion that they generally had supported it. And so, I will not be supporting ANY present council member for re-election. Our current mayor is term-limited and is thus not seeking re-election.
While walking along the paths surrounding our neighborhoods, I have been able to develop a list of certain homes vs. the political signs they display. I did not set out to do this, but over time, it became obvious that certain homes were associated with specific parties / candidates. This evolved into an additional strategy: if a given home previously displayed sings for a candidate whose subsequent performance in office equates to a dumpster fire, that is a valuable data point. Past performance is a likely indicator of future results, in this case. There is one particular house that always displays political signs is now sporting a sign for a mayoral candidate. In the past, I did not support their political choice, and I believe that subsequent events have validated this. So, I researched their current mayoral candidate. His website had phrasing that, to me, suggested questionable associations… He came across as too slick. They subsequently sported a couple of city council signs too, so I’m likely scratching those candidates from my options.
I will still work on learning what I can from a local newspaper and other online sources, But at least I’m able to narrow the field quite a bit via excluding current pols as well as those who are supported by ‘negative trending’ homes.
