There Will Be Signs

Dearest Rachel –

They say that “all politics is local,” and that’s something we’re about to deal with come next Tuesday, when we’re to vote for the mayor, village trustees and the local school board. Granted, there’s something to be said about holding an election on April 1st, of all days, but for the moment, I’ll let you note the timing, and you can feel free to contemplate what jokes write themselves over this particular situation.

The odd thing about local politics is that very few of the candidates on this level identify publicly with one or the other of the major political parties, making it difficult to determine which lever to pull in the voting booth. Granted, politics shouldn’t be considered like professional sports, where you root for a certain candidate because they’re on your “team,” but the party affiliation serves as a form of shorthand for many prospective voters in trying to determine which candidates line up with their particular worldview, and as such, would run the village the way they would like to see it run.

It’s a gross oversimplification, but the way I used to explain it to Lars – who, despite being something of a political junkie himself, is more attuned to the politics of Europe and the Middle East than he is those taking place here in the States – was that one party is convinced that government is the solution to all the problems of the world, while the other believes that government is the source of most of those same problems. I’m going to try to refrain from making judgments – or even identifications – here, but you know full well where I come down as far as that dichotomy is concerned. In any event, while we can watch how these beliefs play out on the national – and even the world – stage, it’s a little more difficult to get them applied on a local level, particularly when the candidates don’t claim either party as a means to identify their principles.

So how do you figure out who to vote for? How do you find out whose approach to governance lines up with yours?

It turns out, it’s a simple case of knowing your neighbors.

***

Just because we consider each other to be good neighbors, though, doesn’t mean that we agree with each other any better than anywhere else. Indeed, it could be argued that the affluence of the suburbs allows people to hold to certain “luxury beliefs” that would be ruinous if applied elsewhere (whether they are either ruinous or even applied here is subject to debate); we just don’t come to blows about them, or even wave signs, march or yell about them. Most of the time, what disagreements we have among ourselves can be seen in certain people’s front lawns; and it is here that we can figure out which candidates belong to which party (or, more accurately, hold which party’s philosophy, since party affiliation isn’t brought up).

Now, if you were to believe what you read in the papers, these two neighbors ought to be at each other’s throats. There should be marks of vandalism by one to the other, or possibly both – eggs on the windows, spraypaint on the sidewalk, or keymarks on the car (especially if, god forbid, it happens to be a Tesla) – for the mortal sin of holding an opposing viewpoint as to who should be running our village (and, by extension, the nation at large).

But as you can see, there’s nothing of the sort going on here. On the contrary, in fact, it’s as if these are the only, erm, signs of the philosophical differences between them. Gone, for the moment, are the flags, be they rainbow, Ukraine, Gadsden or Trump himself. No other yard signage (“hate has no home here,” “in this house we believe…,” “parents teach their kids,” that sort of thing) aside from the advertisements for this candidate or that; at least, until next Tuesday.

Granted, none of this makes it any easier for one to determine which candidates are right for whoever’s passing by. Only those of us that know these people – even if literally only in passing – can divine which ones fall where on the conservative-to-liberal continuum, because those flags and signs that used to be in these yards have been temporarily replaced with these adverts. Remembering which houses bore which signs before make it clear as to which candidates support what, thereby assisting one in deciding who to vote for.

It’s a bit of a two-edged sword, though; just as you may see a certain sign in someone’s yard with whom you agree (and therefore, are more inclined to support on the ballot), there are also those with who you disagree, whose signs serve as a list a people to avoid voting for. It’s a reason I don’t bother with signs myself – not only am I not sufficiently politically engaged on this level, I’m not sure I’d want to be a bad advertisement for one candidate or another, like so many people around town may find themselves being.

So who am I voting for? To be honest, honey, I’m not sure I’m on top of all the races going on. And while I know you and I would discuss this between ourselves (and I have talked with the folks about this matter; they’re taking the endorsement of the retiring mayor as a guide, for one thing), there’s no need to state matters out to those reading over your shoulder. We have the right to a secret ballot, after all.

Still, with all that having been said (not to mention the clues laid down in this letter), I’d ask you to continue to keep an eye on me, and wish me (and my chosen candidates) luck. I’m sure we’re going to need it.