All Politics is Local

Earlier this week I was invited to introduce a GOP candidate for Congress from Georgia’s Tenth District that includes Athens and many counties south of us.  This post is not intended to promote Gary Gerrard for Congress, although he certainly has my vote, and I encourage all to consider him very seriously.  This post is a retelling of some of my thoughts as I stood before a few dozen Athens High School (Class of ’70!) alum that were in my back yard listening intently and first hand to a political newbie working hard to get elected.  Let me paraphrase my remarks:

The last time I personally got involved in a Congressional race was in 1958 when I was dragged by my mother down to the old Varsity across from the arch and handed a placard promoting Bob Stephens for Congress.  He won, and later I saw a framed picture of our ragtag group on his desk in DC.  But in the ensuing 50+ years I voted and did nothing else.  Now voting is important, but it is not enough.

THIS IS OUR TIME.  Athens is again the largest city in a Georgia Congressional District after watching Augusta elect our representatives during the better part of the last thirty years.  WE have an opportunity to make certain that a straight thinking man or woman who will make logical decisions and thinks before he speaks takes our intentions to Washington.  There will be at least six GOP options and a number of Democrats, too I suspect.  Why don’t we do something other than let the media tell us who to vote for?  Go meet the candidates, it does not cost money to shake a hand and listen to a short speech.  They will all be in Athens over the next year and they will want your ears.  Then, if you find a candidate that speaks the way you think, go do something to help them win!

Most of us are not rich and a maximum allowed donation of $2600 is itself a laughable number.  But the best candidates still need to get their name into your subconscious and it will take pails of money to give them the wherewithal to make the road trips and hotel appointments just so they can press the flesh at Farmer’s Markets and Little League games.  And those bumper stickers aren’t free.  Well they are to us, but you know what I mean.

Today, we are not likely to find a candidate that will vote for every issue exactly as we would.  Maybe the uber-right or arch-left will find electors that meet their agendas perfectly.  But I think most of us want a representative who we trust to study the issues and do what’s best for America first, best for his District second and best for some special interest group a distant third.  I’m not afraid to ask any candidate no matter their celebrity or their speech giving ability to tell me where their head is.  I think our District has been fooled before by name recognition and we cannot afford casually elected representation again.

Vote in 2014.  Research, donate and work from now ‘till then.  THIS IS OUR TIME.