When It Comes to Local Elections, Party DOES Matter

Just adding a letter I sent in to the local paper back before the elections.  First, the paper's editorial board wrote a piece advising voters to disregard political party when voting for local politicians.  I rebutted with this, which they published.  THEN in subsequent weeks BOTH Democratic and Republican committees sent in letters urging voters to vote exclusively for their respective party.  THEN the paper wrote another editorial endorsing Republican ACROSS THE BOARD!!  Hellooooooo.........  So anyway, here it is:

Editor, The Cheshire Herald: 

Regarding the recent editorial in The Cheshire Herald titled "When It Comes To Local Elections, Leave Party Out Of It" the author has ignored or perhaps overlooked a critical piece of the puzzle.  

To summarize, the editorial's advice is that voters should disregard political party in local politics because a candidate's views on local issues is more important to us here in town than the State or National Democratic and Republican Party platforms.  

On the surface and in theory that sort of Kumbaya, feel-good, happy-talk appears to make sense but to a serious voter it's really an irrational point of view and here's why: With any of the hot button issues--gun control, health care, abortion, death penalty, taxes, etc--a local candidate's stance/position speaks to his or her overall judgement, world view, and in some cases morality.  That is key because today's Board of Ed member or Town Councilman could be tomorrow's State Representative or U.S. Congressman or the like.  For those so inclined to pursue a career in politics, every stop along the way is a stepping stone to the next level.  For that reason alone, party affiliation should not and must not be discounted in any election for any candidate.  I'm not saying you shouldn't vote for your neighbor because you know him, he's a nice guy and he's in favor of Bulky Waste Pick-up and buying a new fire truck but the bottom line in politics is that the opponent must be defeated at every level.