CARLTON FLETCHER: Ill take yard signs over TV political ads

Don’t want to talk about politics.

— Korn

Politics, they say, makes for strange bedfellows. I say politics is just strange, period.

I’ve never been able to figure out why someone would risk the humiliation of being outvoted for an elected position, even if the potential candidate thinks he or she can do the job well. Of course, that probably stems from my deep-seated fear of rejection that I can trace back to losing a 4-H election while in the seventh grade at Irwin County Junior High. But that’s just me.

Even if I had no opposition, I don’t think I’d have the courage to run for the assistant to the assistant dogcatcher’s office for fear that a write-in candidate or “None of the Above” would get more votes.

Plus, as singer Paul Simon — one of the greatest ever — said at a 1980 concert in Atlanta after someone, in a brief pause between songs, yelled from the audience, “Paul Simon for president!”: “I couldn’t stand up to the scrutiny.”

I’ve never truly had a great deal of interest in politics since I graduated high school and even though I’m smart enough now to understand how dramatically politicians impact our lives, I’m frankly so disgusted with partisan politics on the state and national level that I sincerely have not found a candidate in the last 30 years who I believe represents the way I think about issues.

Locally, it’s a different story.

Even the career politicians who want to keep their places at the lobbyist-filled money trough will tell you, “Local politics touches you most closely.” Which would seem to be reason enough to stimulate voting in local races over national or statewide races.

But, as anyone who even remotely follows politics will tell you, that just ain’t so. In fact, voter turnout during presidential elections sometimes doubles or even triples turnout during the so-called mid-term or randomly called local elections. It seems we’re more concerned about a particular figurehead — let me rephrase that … we want our political party’s figurehead — being at the top of the political food chain in the White House than we are about the guy who’s going to help determine whether our garbage is picked up regularly or whether we’ll have an adequate police force to protect us.

That’s why you’ll have fanatical reaction to meaningless words and promises from a clownish national politician who talks broadly about issues that, in actuality, have little impact on regular citizens’ everyday lives but get little more than a mehh when your neighbor says he’ll do everything he can to get your roads and alleys paved if you’ll help him get elected to the local city or county government.

So, while I by no means agree with all the policies and platforms espoused by the five ladies and gentlemen who are running for two seats — mayor and Ward IV Albany city commissioner — in the city’s Nov. 3 municipal election, nor do I endorse some of their campaign tactics, I applaud them for having the courage to put their names out there for consideration. And, whether you support or oppose their campaigns, even vehemently, you owe them at least a grudging amount of respect for their desire to serve.

People laugh at local politicians who say — and some of them out loud, even — “The only way to win a local campaign is to get more yard signs out than your opoonent.” (I’ll give Ward II Albany City Commissioner Bobby Coleman props for his comment during his successful commission campaign two years ago when asked about the paucity of his signs: “I’ve never seen nor heard of one single vote being cast by a campaign sign.”)

Of course, most of those doing the chuckling have given their share of the millions and millions of dollars spent on nauseating TV ads by their party’s annointed.

Comparing the two … I’ll take the yard signs any day.

Email Carlton Fletcher at [email protected]. Follow @ABH_Fletcher on Twitter.