By Michael Mee
CNHI
St. Clair County —
You have a choice on Tuesday. A choice to elect the person you feel should represent you in local, state and federal government.
Of course, Tuesday’s election will determine who will be on the ballot this November, for the most part. But it is still important to weed through the herd and select the person you feel will do the best job.
The phrase “politics is always local” sometimes gets overused, but Tuesday is an opportunity to see that in action.
Right now you’re reading this in a local newspaper, a place for you to go and get the in-depth news about the area you live in.
The same is true with Tuesday. You’ll have the opportunity to select the candidate that you feel will represent your local interests best.
The candidates running Tuesday have had their opportunity to share with you their thoughts and feelings toward how they would govern or represent the people. There have been many forums, meet- and-greets, articles and radio and newspaper ads in the past few months, and now it is time for you to choose.
Election years are a reminder that our system of government might not be perfect, but it is set it up to be flexible.
The first election I voted in happened to fall on the 2000 presidential race. I remember going to city hall and seeing a few people I graduated high school with who were headed out of the polling location with a smile on their face.
I greeted them with the same smile. It was an unsaid “we can make a difference” nod, but I know that’s what we were telling each other. Besides, at 18 years old, there isn’t a whole lot you can do to shape the face of your community or the national stage besides choosing someone who will represent your interests.
Over the past year, there has been a sharp increase in anti-incumbent movements on the national stage. People are tired of the same-old-same-old, and they are desperate to see something good come out of Washington, and Montgomery in some cases.
Politics can be a dirty business. Even in local races, there comes the time when someone might throw mud in order to make a case against someone’s ability to represent.
I know this well, as many members of my family were involved in local politics for the majority of my life and even before I was born.
“I wouldn’t want to run for office now at all. Even on a local level. There’s no way I could put up with it or would want to put my family through it,” my cousin, who was mayor of my hometown for many years, told me a while back.
He said that digging into people’s personal lives has become something that has trickled down from the national stage into local politics and added “you can’t just run on the issues anymore.”
I’ve seen a lot of that in this past election cycle. I can only imagine what’s in store for the airwaves Sunday and Monday.
There are ads in newspapers across this state, even this Thursday’s issue of the News-Aegis that continue the salvoes launched in the past eight weeks.
My prediction for the governor’s race will be a runoff between Republicans Bradley Byrne and Tim James. Artur Davis will get the Democratic nod, though Steve Flowers thinks there will be a runoff between him and Ron Sparks.
As for the elections that matter most to you here in this county, I will stay silent, as I do not want to sway any opinions.
But don’t forget that because politics is local, your most important vote should be local, too.
