Although municipal elections — including the upcoming Nov. 3 election in Newton, are non-partisan — there’s been an heated discussion about this topic on another thread here.
Does political party affiliation matter to you when selecting an alderman or school committee member? Vote in our unscientific poll and comment below.
[polldaddy poll=”9100441″]
It would be interesting to hear from any of the nine voters (so far) about why they feel party affiliation is a firm litmus test for them.
Greg,
I’ll get it going. I think anyone who votes party lines is foolish. We are all allowed to vote anyway we want but to blindly negate over half the population because they aren’t of your part is ridiculous. Partisan politics is baby politics and there’s nowhere it shows better than in national politics. The result of voting by party line is that nothing gets done, unless you’re from a city/state that is 75% or more one party. There is no mutual respect, no compromise and nothing gets done.
Here is the worst thing about partisan politics: Eveyone knows that there isn’t a person in this world that is 100% correct, but partisan voters believe there party is 100%. A party thats made up of millions of people who have millions of viewpoints is always correct. How foolish. To not vote for some wonderful candidates out there because they don’t have a D (in this city) next to their head is silly. An individual can’t be 100% right, but a political party can? WOW. Fire away.
One last comment, partisanship is lazy politics/voting. It gives people an excuse not to vote for someone without doing any research on the candidates. Not to say that doing research is 100% foolproof, I’ve made my share of mistakes that still haunt me today. But, whatever.
Ok Tom, I guess that makes you not one of the (now) 11 poll voters who vote solely on party lines.
Along with all of the other things that I look into trying to determine if candidates are suitable for the office they are running for, I care about how they will reach decisions and whether or not they follow any “party line” slavishly is important. I don’t care who they voted for but I do care what it was that convinced them. I care about how economic decisions are made and if they believe that anything but liquid trickles down, that snap recipients just don’t work hard enough or they are followers of Norquist, then I will factor that in. If they exhibit radical beliefs right or left, party or not, I will factor that in too.
So I would say that looking at their party affiliation, including newer parties like Tea Party, Radical Republicans, or Progressives, etc. and what that means to them is just part of my process.
Marti,
That’s part of “your process”. What Greg and Shawn are referring to are looking at party affiliation and that’s it. You have a process and you do due diligence that’s great. One of my high priorities are candidates character. I recognize I won’t agree on 100% of the issues with anybody, I am looking for someone who I mostly agree with and I hope that the candidate doesn’t deceive his/her positions to me. I’ve been tricked in the past, but it’s still a process.
Tom, I have no problem interpreting the three posits above. Thanks anyway.
Check out the second one. ” … party affiliation is one of many factors I consider …” That is what I’m referring to.
You commented on the first.
Shawn hadn’t yet commented on this thread and Greg made a request that neither of us can grant.
Hi – though party affiliation is very high on my list, I checked “one of many factors”.
Last election I endorsed independent Alison Leary. Alison is sort of like the political bizarro Jake (or Jake is the bizarro Alison – no insult intended! … Seinfeld reference): although she is unenrolled, Alison is a true “progressive independent” with a history of supporting candidates and causes that Democrats care about. So I was glad to support her then and now.
I’m really focused on the Presidential campaign, so I don’t have a dog in this particular fight; but I plan to vote for local candidates from all the different groups and factions on the ballot.
Some on this blog have come down pretty hard on Shawn Fitzgibbons, but I can tell all that Shawn has bent over backward to give Bernie Sanders’ Newton supporters a fair shake in this current campaign. The Sanders campaign has been getting some push back from those who argue that Sanders isn’t a “Real Democrat” because until this year, he has only run as either an Independent or as a Democratic Socialist. Shawn hasn’t been moved by this argument at all. He’s created a level playing field for every Democratic Presidential candidate.
Every dealing I’ve had with Shawn has been open, honorable and above board and the argument that the Party is only comprised of old partisan geezers like me is ludicrous. Shawn has opened the windows to the outside, brought many, many younger people into the fold and been entirely open to what they want to do and who they want to back. From my perspective, he’s been a breath of fresh air.
I voted for the litmus test option because I was feeling a bit contrarian at the moment. 😉 In truth, I don’t even know the party affiliation of most of our electeds.
It’s a blog, folks. It’s okay to have some fun with it.
Brian Yates has Revolutionary War era ancestors buried in Newton’s two historic cemeteries. I’ve thought at times that he might be a closet “Federalist.”
Bob – you rock! Thanks for the kind words.