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Our community's first “Meet the Candidates” forum was held at the Town Hall last night. It was set up by four high school students. I was impressed by the number of citizens who showed up to hear seven candidates who are running for three seats on the Town Board My oldest son, who has sometimes participated on this web site, was the lone Democratic candidate.
The offices include that of Town Supervisor, and two Town Councilmen seats. The current Supervisor is a liberal republican; he is being challenged by the head of the local tea party. The two councilmen running for re-election are conservative republicans, one of whom is active in the tea party. A tea party woman, and a republican woman who opposes hydro-fracking, are also running for council seats. And my son is running for a council seat.
We live in what could most accurately be called a “red neck” area of rural, upstate New York. The fact that most elections are between republivcans and tea-partiers gives a hint of the extent of difficulty that the local Democratic Party faces. For the past quarter-century, republicans have held 93% of all city, town, and county offices. Only two Democrats have run for a town office here since 1972: one was a nice older fellow, who was literally a consistant voice in the wilderness; the other ran once in 2006, and has since become a tea party member.
Since moving into this county twenty years ago, from another upstate county where Democrats are a small minority, I've been active in the county and town Democratic headquarters. My wife and our four kids have been active, too. And not just during election season, as important as that certainly is. But doing the “off season” work – organizing; voter education and registration; reaching out to independents, Greens, and socialists; and attempting to find areas of “common ground” with segments within the republican base.
It is impossible to get elected in this area without some republican votes. This was a reality I recognized this spring, when I campaigned – and won – a seat on the local school board. Another factor that I think important is that my two sons and I are comfortable in working together, as a sub-group within the local Democratic headquarters. The others on the town and county level jokingly call us “the local Kennedy family.” At 27, my older son is the most talented public speaker in our region; his brother, 24, is our hard-nosed, behind-the-scenes strategist. We work together on outlines of the speeches and letters-to-the-editors we do, and I usually polish off the final drafts.
As a teenager, my older son worked at the local “quick-mart,” the modern combination of the old, corner gas station and the Ma-n-Pops grocery store. He has always had an easy-going, friendly personality – something that neither his brother or I in public settings. So most of the town's voters know him as a nice, intelligent young man.
I was surprised during the afternoon, when he said he was a little nervous. We knew that the tea partiers and republicans were going to be going at each others' throats at the forum, and that included the candidates, as well as their supporters. My son relaxed by re-reading the 1964 national bestseller, “The Kennedy Wit.” Older forum members remember that JFK was gifted in dealing with tense confrontations with gentle humor.
His presentation was outstanding. Obviously, I am subjective; however, both the republican and tea party candidates, and their supporters, were very supportive of him. This was in stark contrast to the hostility expressed throughout the rest of the forum. Three of the other candidates for council positions expressed an interest with serving with him on the Town Board.
Elections are still a few days away. Despite the impressive show last night, we are fully aware that it will be very difficult for him to win the seat. We will need a significant cross-over vote, in order for a Democrat to be elected.
However, of the seven area Democratic campaigns that we are currently working on (in three counties), he may have the best chance.
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