Letter to the Editor: Imagine a Local Election

Keeping track of the lies stacking up at the end of a presidential election is tiresome – the accusations, denials, repetition, justifications, and especially the fact-checking that many voters ignore. Instead it might be helpful to reframe this dreary contest as a local election for mayor.

The analogy isn’t perfect, the main difference being that the stakes and the dangers are vastly greater in a national election. Local elections clarify, though, the implications of voting. Our expectations for admirable political leadership are clearest in a local context, as are our responsibilities to each other as citizens. Imagine, then, a candidate who wants to become mayor of your town.

He hasn’t researched the history or current status of the town; he doesn’t read books or consult scientific research. He’s unaware of, or misstates, local economic successes. Don’t expect him to know how the town council passes laws. Dangerous conditions like factory pollution could well go unregulated if he has his way. His business dealings have divided neighborhood from neighborhood. Without evidence, he stereotypes racial and religious groups. He advocates police actions that violate the U.S. Constitution, and seems unaware of it.

He celebrates his own fame, directing his businesses to take advantage of working people, even cheating them. He personalizes every controversy, bragging about how his great wealth came as a result of other Americans’ disasters. He’s proud of spending “other people’s money” for his own profit. He alone knows how to fix anything negative. But his plan is secret; he admits he doesn’t want opponents (or you) to know what he might do in the future.

He boasts about business acumen, yet when he lost nearly a billion dollars one year, and used that failure to avoid paying taxes for many years later, he had a spokesperson boast that this was his special “genius.” The genius also often stiffs workers he hires and cons students at his…uh…“university.” Expect that your town would be run for his benefit.

He says your town is no longer a great place to live, undercutting your outreach efforts. He favors bullying neighboring towns. Only your town should be seen as great…except perhaps for a competitor whose mayor he particularly admires.

He wants debates, but refuses to prepare carefully for them. Promises and childish put-downs will do, as he ignores the cost and practicality of his plans. When he doesn’t persuade you, it’s never his fault; the process must have been rigged.

He will be especially disrespectful of strong women in the community, and has a history of describing many women in terms of their private parts, or their weight, or their potential affairs with him. Parents won’t want to discuss his family values around the dinner table.

That’s him. Look it up. Poisoning humane values in your family friendly community is bad enough. Be very careful when you vote for our country’s next leader.

Rob Anderson

Jacksonport, Wis.