Plea to All Candidates in Every Election Ever

Brad Hutchison · Post by **Brad Hutchison** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 10:47 am

I come back to the Deck after a couple days and waste an hour of my life, that I can never get back, reading campaign threads that are completely useless to me. I try to strain out some helpful information, but there isn't any.

Every election cycle that comes around gets me excited: Now's a time for change! For new ideas! A new opportunity for public discourse! These candidates are different!

And then the campaigns start.

95% of the campaign information my brain processes it discards as irrelevant. Maybe it's just me, but:

I don't care what party you belong to.

I don't care how long you've lived here.

I don't care who has endorsed you.

I don't care if you are or are not "part of the establishment." I don't even know what that means.

I don't care what you think, personally or professionally, about the person running against you.

What you have done before may or may not be useful to me as a voter.

ALL I care about is what you're going to do for me and my city if you're elected this time. I suppose I could spend hours sifting through month old LO forums and campaign fliers I may be using as bookmarks, but I guess that brings me to my point. I shouldn't have to.

So much time and energy and money is wasted putting garbage out to the community. Waste all of your time and energy, but stop wasting mine. Is there any wonder why voter turnout is so low?

And spare me, any candidate who happens to read this, from posting in agreement. You do it too.

OK. Now I feel better.

Bryan Schwegler · Post by **Bryan Schwegler** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 2:19 pm

Amen on so many of those points.

Gary Rice · Post by **Gary Rice** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 2:31 pm

I just wonder how many of the candidates realize how utterly transparent some of their musings really are?

Colleen Wing · Post by **Colleen Wing** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 3:14 pm

Brad,

The top questions I heard when going door to door...

What party are you?
Why are our elections non-partisan?
Who is our councilman now?
oh and ...Where is Ward 3?

The majority of people are just annoyed that you bothered them.

I wish you were right, but the fact of the matter is that the average voter ONLY cares about those things. Which is a different problem all together.

Brad Hutchison · Post by **Brad Hutchison** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 3:22 pm

Colleen,

You're right. My real dream is to someday shatter the two-party system. But then how would we know what to do?

Colleen Wing · Post by **Colleen Wing** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 3:49 pm

Being a sheep is a choice and is not unique to politics.

One thing I always find funny is that when someone goes to a bowling alley to bowl they are never criticized for not being smart enough to know that technically you can bowl anywhere you want.

Bryan Schwegler · Post by **Bryan Schwegler** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 4:30 pm

Colleen Wing wrote:Brad,

The top questions I heard when going door to door...

What party are you?
Why are our elections non-partisan?
Who is our councilman now?
oh and ...Where is Ward 3?

The majority of people are just annoyed that you bothered them.

I wish you were right, but the fact of the matter is that the average voter ONLY cares about those things. Which is a different problem all together.

Which is too bad. If people just took the time to understand the candidate outside of all the "trappings" of politics, I think our country, state, and city would be better off.

Political party and endorsements tell me nothing. Neither guarantees the values, plans, or future performance of a candidate.

For example, I would imagine that you lost many voters simply because you're a "Republican"Ã¢â‚¬Â¦that's all they needed to hear. I however found you to be very well spoken with a deep passion for wanting to improve Lakewood.

I have a hard time understanding how being an R or D helps get the streets repaved. I don't understand how a candidate being endorsed by the Dems or the GOP or the International Brotherhood of Tuba Players and Baton Twirlers will improve city services.

It's about the individual candidate and their ideas, their passions, and their drive to make the city better. No party or endorsement can tell me those things. Only the candidate can do so.

Shawn Juris · Post by **Shawn Juris** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 4:43 pm

The two party system at the local level is one that seems to lack teeth to me. If you take away the wedge issues; abortion, gun control, military/national defense, stem cell research, welfare reform, etc what do you have left for the mayors to debate on party lines about? Fiscal responsibility? Social Programs? Do these types of things even translate to party line politics at this level?

Gary Rice · Post by **Gary Rice** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 5:13 pm

OK, time for Politics 101.

Outside of the fact that I happen to be a member of a union that represents tuba players

(The Cleveland Federation of Musicians) let's consider the entire endorsement issue for a moment, if we could.

It's no secret that Tom George has a bunch of party, union, and individual endorsements. If he's reelected, he will have all this networking already in place, whereas the challenger will have to either establish those connections, or not, as the future unfolds for him.

We have to ask, with the numerous problems facing our city, exactly how much do we value the connections and support that endorsements bring? The fact is that having endorsements mean that valuable and pre-approved support awaits Mayor George's re-election.

It also shows that he's been able to work with a wide variety of interests.

If a candidate not having those kind of endorsements is elected, will our city have the connections and networking in place to be an effective player in the greater metropolitan picture? If our city needed help, wouldn't we rather have a large number of people and groups out there already willing and able to work with, and support our mayor, and therefore, our city?

Just a few questions...

Shawn Juris · Post by **Shawn Juris** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 5:22 pm

Of those endorsements which ones are not going to support Lakewood as a city because of who is at the helm? Should we expect that the police union or worse yet the tuba union would strike in protest to an upset on election day?

Bryan Schwegler · Post by **Bryan Schwegler** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 5:24 pm

Gary Rice wrote: It's no secret that Tom George has a bunch of party, union, and individual endorsements. If he's reelected, he will have all this networking already in place, whereas the challenger will have to either establish those connections, or not, as the future unfolds for him.

Gary,
You're starting from a very big assumption that having this "network" is a positive thing. Others may view it as a sign of favors to be repaid or cushy union contracts promised. To be honest I'm probably somewhere in the middle.

IMHO, endorsements are political fluff...a little pomp and circumstance that really doesn't demonstrate the future effectiveness of the candidate. A good network can't make a bad politician any better. And I would venture to say that a great leader can easily build a network of connections.

sharon kinsella · Post by **sharon kinsella** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 5:31 pm

Bryan -

When you are endorsed by the Lakewood Democratic Club or the Republican whatever they have locally, it means that people in your town, who are concerned about this city feel that this candidate is the best choice for our present needs. You don't get these kinds of endorsements just talking up whatever the new rhetoric may be. You get it through hard work, dependability, knowledge of issues and ability to work along with others.

Same with the Cuy. County Dems. - This is not a fluff endorsement. A person has to work hard for it. Has to have a consistent record of dependable community service and recognition for the hard work they do.

These endorsements do mean a lot and should be taken into consideration when assessing a candidates credentials.

Bryan Schwegler · Post by **Bryan Schwegler** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 5:38 pm

Sharon,
So just because a candidate doesn't receive the endorsement, does that mean they're a bad choice? I would venture to say that 99% of the time, that's a no.

So for example, Joe Dangelo got the Dem Club endorsement for Ward 3, does that mean Mike Summers would be a bad choice? I hope not since that's who I'm supporting.

It's just my opinion that endorsements are worthless in helping me, and I'm sure many others, make a decision. I don't think they really matter much. Others may feel differently and that's fine.

Personally I feel there are much bigger things to take into account about a candidate's viability than endorsements that may or may not mean anything in the long run.

Gary Rice · Post by **Gary Rice** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 5:43 pm

Shawn,

Of course, all unions and all parties probably have vested interests of one kind or another.

Still, working together gets things done. Using your "tuba union" analogy, for many years the Cleveland Musicians' Union and the City have worked together on the Hometown Band series; providing Lakewood residents with beautiful Sunday night music.

I might add that your referring to them as the "Tuba Union" might not be the best way to win their hearts and minds...

Equally critical are the Police, Fire, and City Workers. They might not get what they want financially in a negotiation, but they appreciate respect.

It seems that Tom gave them that.

As a former member of a teachers' union executive board, I'll be the first to tell you that a seriously adversarial relationship can be costly to both workers and management.

So no, I'm sure that no one would walk away from Ed if he were elected.

He'd probably do a good job too.

It's just that he would probably have a long way to go in establishing relationships for our city that are already in place with Tom.

sharon kinsella · Post by **sharon kinsella** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 5:45 pm

Mike Summers might have had a very good shot at the endorsement because he has a good solid background in service in Lakewood. He did not come to the endorsement meeting.

Here's something to ponder. Fitzgerald is presently the president of the Lakewood Democratic Club - he did not get the endorsement. Joe D'Angelo is a VP of the club, he was the only one there from the ward,(Mike Summers didn't come to the meeting) who was a democrat so he got it.

Tom Bullock is a VP of the club, he did not get the endorsement, Dan Shields got it.

Those of us who have been active in the club have known and worked with these people for a while. Our votes were determined by the quality of the candidate.

PS We even let Diane Helbig speak. She had a really good message but was not eligible for a democratic endorsement.