2010: A New Odyssey

Don’t send out the St. Bernard…I’m still alive. After intentionally burning my candle at both ends and anywhere else it would burn, I have purposely simplified my life for 2010.

I’ve intentionally refrained from offering much unsolicited comment since the election. That’s mostly a result of some personal circumstances that dictate my energies be directed elsewhere, but also from a desire to reenergize myself after the exhausting demands of last year’s campaign. Additionally, I thought I’d try to avoid criticizing the new administration while they rolled out their vision for town affairs. However, I’m not particularly pleased about most of what they’ve unveiled and implemented so far. It appears it’s business as usual – where politics, favors, and rhetoric continue to rule the day.

Eventually I’ll post the final installment to my election analysis, but lately I’ve been contemplating the best path forward for independent politics. Current election law makes the scenario of duplicating our local effort very challenging if not unlikely. The No New Tax Party (basically Rotterdam’s version of the Tea Party) was a ballot line that ceased to exist the day after the election. To keep it or any other independent ballot line alive in coming elections will require a level of unparalleled motivation and commitment to collect the necessary signatures. It is a daunting task and the effort required is incomprehensible to anyone that hasn’t tried to do it.

As far as the local effort is concerned, these are among what I consider to be the key elements going forward:

• What individual will lead this effort?


• Is this individual capable of mustering the necessary manpower?


• Can he motivate enough voters?


• Does he have the courage of his convictions?


• Is he knowledgeable on the specific local issues that face us?


• Does he have a plan for addressing those issues beyond the rhetoric?

These questions can be asked equally about any candidate but they become particularly important when looking for that elusive alternative…otherwise, why even go through the trouble of creating an alternative? I will be curious to see if a local independent line gets created again for this or any other election, or will “independent” hopefuls simply seek the path of least resistance and operate within the entrenched two-party system?

The answer to that question may be reflected in what has been going on nationally. Last week, Tea Party Nation organized a controversial tea party convention that in my opinion was not reflective of the grass root intentions of the majority of tea party participants. From the questionable motivations of the event organizer to the role of Sarah Palin, the convention seemed to be a perverted version of real tea party sentiment.

My friend at Poli-Tea has numerous worthwhile commentaries and analysis on the relationship of independent politics and the two-party system. The links below are to a few of his more recent posts that I found interesting and I hope you’ll explore them too.

On the Inevitable Failure of Strategic Infiltration, or, the Degeneration of Tea Party Activists into Petty Party Functionaries
http://politeaparty.blogspot.com/2010/01/on-inevitable-failure-of-strategic.html

All Jokes are Half Truths and the Joke is on You: if You Support Democrats or Republicans, You are the Problem
http://politeaparty.blogspot.com/2010/01/all-jokes-are-half-truths-and-joke-is.html

Already Dead: the Democratic-Republican Partisan Paradigm in the Age of the Independent Voter
http://politeaparty.blogspot.com/2010/01/already-dead-democratic-republican.html

Pretend-ependents and the Tea Party Movement
http://politeaparty.blogspot.com/2010/02/pretend-ependents-and-tea-party.html

Tea Party Revolution Suffers Defeat at the Hands of Red-Coated Loyalists to the Two-Party State, Some Carry On the Work of Real Opposition
http://politeaparty.blogspot.com/2010/02/tea-party-revolution-suffers-deafeat-at.html

Post-Election Analysis: Icarus Falling

Part 2 in a series


Thought I was different and it seems I’m just the same
As a game I put my hand over the flame
Thought I was smarter as I flew into the sun
But it turned out the way it does with everyone

---lyrics from the song Moth on the album Revelations by Audioslave

This isn’t the first time I’ve highlighted noteworthy lyrics by Chris Cornell. I’ve always been a student of the lesson of man and his limitations. There can often be many different motivations for reaching beyond them. In my case, I’m guilty of being an idealist. Idealism often leads to the pursuit of lofty goals but it’s also a path that leads directly into the sun. Tough gig.

The election is over. I lost. The alternative choice we had hoped to provide by creating the independent No New Tax Party ballot line was not fully embraced by the electorate, although we pulled some significant numbers in spite of prognostications otherwise. In the end, it simply wasn’t enough.

The ramifications of our involvement though have caused many to speculate that “we split the vote” and were responsible for the paradigm shift of power in the town. A Republican supermajority was transformed into a Democrat supermajority overnight. It was a Democrat sweep of epic proportion.

So what does that mean? First, it means some people (ousted Republican incumbents and their leadership) are really, really p*ssed. They attribute the loss solely to the existence of the No New Tax Party. They assume that we split the vote and ALL our votes, or at least the majority of them, would’ve gone to the Republican candidate. Maybe, but I don’t agree. The argument is fair enough but I think it’s too simplistic. Here’s why: it doesn’t account for the fact that we appealed to independent voters, some that may not have even voted otherwise and also that we commanded many Democrat votes as well. It also doesn’t account for the impact of an ill-advised Republican attempt to create a new town-wide tax district prior to the election. In other words, it’s plausible that the Republicans lost because of their own missteps. There is an element of party arrogance that hasn’t been acknowledged. People definitely wanted and voted for “change.” We tried to provide it in the form of the No New Tax Party but instead the voter opted for the “change” offered by the Democrats. In my opinion, the Republicans would’ve lost the election either way, albeit by a narrower margin perhaps.

Let’s take a closer look at my race in particular. Remember, I won the primary in September to secure the Republican ballot line and thus, essentially returned the dynamic in my race to the traditional dynamic of two-party politics. I was competing in a separate, special election rolled into the general election. My opponent was a Democrat, who also had the Conservative endorsement. I’ve been the recipient of some Republican leadership wrath because they lost control of the town when their candidates fell to the Democrats. They blame me. I don’t believe the blame is warranted but I understand how I make a convenient scapegoat. If the Republican leadership really was interested in keeping seats, they would’ve supported me after I rightfully won the Republican primary. They didn’t. Moreover, a prominent Republican state assemblyman appeared on my Democratic opponent’s campaign mailer days before the general election. I lost by 572 votes and actually commanded more total votes than either of the two big dog Republican candidates running for the 4 year terms in the other race. Not too shabby in my book. Maybe some party support could’ve changed the outcome?

Let’s forget about the “what-if’s?” I lost. I only had a Democratic opponent. There wasn’t anyone else “to split the vote” unless I want to count my Republican primary opponent who stayed in the race on two minor party lines and garnered 403 votes. My point is the night belonged to the Democrats likely no matter what. Oddly, that point is in the same instant scoffed at by the Republican leadership when it’s being used to explain their defeat, but then offered as the reason for my defeat had I had their support or not.

We created the No New Tax Party in response to a perception that voters wanted an alternative. Undeniably, some did. I garnered 3098 votes unofficially in my race. I suspect about half of those were cast on the No New Tax Party line. Overall, however, the voter dynamic we envisioned and were relying on to win the election never materialized as evidenced by our individual totals on our independent line. We failed to motivate enough unaffiliated voters to come out and vote for us. We also didn’t pull enough from the two parties.

Failure? In some views, yes. Not in mine. I’ve always believed failure is an integral part of eventual success. Let’s consider it victory delayed. We most certainly lost, but we also had many noteworthy accomplishments that hopefully, strengthen the foundation of future third party independent campaigns.

Next series installment: Inside the Numbers

Post-Election Analysis: The Agony of Defeat and the Thrill of Victory

Part 1 of a series

My campaign experience, like probably most others, was a series of ups and downs. Yet, some of my biggest ups and downs were superimposed on each other. The euphoria of securing enough petition signatures to file our ballot petition was tempered by my daughter unexpectedly being hospitalized. The triumph of winning my Republican primary was muted by the somber news of a good friend’s death in the moments before results started coming in. It seemed inevitable that joy would be elusive for me in this pursuit. On Election night, it became clear to me early that the trend of the result tallies were going against me and that I would eventually lose. I had set out to win. Expectations from five months of grueling, non-stop effort were evaporating with each district that reported. Surprisingly, the disappointment of this trough passed almost instantly, countered perfectly by a peak; the joy of my daughter’s impending wedding. Throughout the campaign, I spoke about priorities. Personally, mine are back in alignment.