Post-Primary Day

I yearn for the days when primary day was just a non-event - another Tuesday in early September for discussing pennant races and the early football season. Instead, I spent the previous two nights leaving a letter I wrote in support of the Chairman on the doors of all Republicans in his district, with the assistance of my twins and some other folks. There are 350 or so registered Republicans; all of 82 showed up. My friend leads 42-40, so now it goes to absentees.

Twelve absentee ballots were mailed out and seven have been returned; of those, four or five are votes for my friend. That it is even this close is a testament to the malevolent intent of the local GOP, the "leadership" of which is fragging our commanding officer. Apparently, we have been so successful pulling the county back from the financial brink that they now have the luxury of exacting vengeance.

Vengeance for what, you may ask. Well, the incompetent Treasurer is a GOP GOB (good ol' boy), and we held him accountable for the mess that had become the Treasurer's Office. To hear the independent auditor tell it, the improvement in that office has been stunning. The Treasurer claims that it is because of him. It is, without question, despite him, and because we got the attention of the others in that office that they had to focus their attention on certain tasks, which, to their credit, they did. But there has been hell to pay, and the Chairman has been the focal point of that hell.

Also, he didn't award a contract to another GOP GOB. That of the three offers for health insurance policies, this one was ranked a distant third by the independent consultant doesn't seem to matter. That we have saved millions by making the switch also doesn't seem to matter.

I have made this point frequently, perhaps because it cannot be stated often enough: once you're in the battle, you fight for the people who are in battle with you. Whatever motivated you to fight in the first place becomes secondary to the loyalty you develop to your co-combatants. This is true in the military, and it is an apt metaphor (but, thankfully, just a metaphor) for governmental service. If I didn't feel a bond with those who work in the local government and do a good job, or with other elected officials, I would walk away, count it as a neat life experience, and be done with it. But because I care about my friend, the Chairman, and the others who serve despite the duress visited upon us by the party higher ups, I continue to press on.

I am not sure how motivated I will remain if Scott is denied the GOP nomination. He will run as an independent anyway, but he is in a heavily Democratic district, and winning as a Republican has been hard enough. No way he wins without the GOP line, but no guarantee of victory either. This is indeed the Silly Season, and I will be grateful when it has passed.