I’m a terrible politician
Musings of a reluctant politician on navigating the circus of party loyalty
Nearly five years into my grand experiment—that of me being a local elected official—and I still find myself chuckling at two things that maybe only I find funny:
I’d never, ever, in a million years have guessed that I would be a politician for any length of time, and
My temperament is ill-suited for the task.
These thoughts often rear their heads when I’m watching the news or listening to conservative pundits rail against the Democratic Party. Not surprisingly, they highlight how poorly Democratic cities are run; how trans rights is an albatross they cannot shake; Biden’s impotence on everything from the economy to student debt, the border and everything in between; and the Progressive wing is no longer just a wing. It’s the majority of the party’s leadership.
One is party is as bad as the other
I cannot and do not disagree with any of this. But here comes one of my famous “yes, buts”—. As in, yes, but our party is similarly a clown show. We love to talk about the strong economy, the closing of the border under the former president, the selection of strong Supreme Court justices and the safety and security of our cities during the previous administration. However, let’s not forget, I frequently say, the disastrous handling of the pandemic; the promises to build a wall that never materialized, the cities ablaze across the country in 2020; the economic shutdown that killed myriad businesses and hobbled many others; and the clown show we see play out daily in Congress by people with an “R” behind their names.
Only a bad politician would point these things out. After all, the goal is blind loyalty, lest you get singled out as a RINO, or a traitor, or, my favorite, “just like the other side.” I’m immune from such opinions, but when I am challenged about not being a strong supporter for the former president and wishing someone—anyone—else was the Republican nominee, I remind them that I’m not a blind loyalty ideologue who is OK with foolishness I see taking place inside the party.
One of my favorite conservative writers, Jonah Goldberg, writing for The Dispatch, last November, said it best:
“This isn’t conservatism, it’s radicalism. Radicalism is the view that the existing society is corrupt and that it would be better to burn it down—or let it burn—because whatever comes next would have to be better, so long as we’re in charge. Indeed, among the many, many problems with radicalism is that it invariably gives license to people who just want power.”
Conservative PAC goes on attack in urban communities
Against the backdrop that Biden’s numbers among Black voters and would-be voters is showing some slippage, a super PAC is running attack ads in urban areas across the country. I heard the first one earlier this week while visiting my mom in Peachtree City, Ga., and I must confess the messages were well done and perfectly suited to an audience that isn’t tuned into the day-to-day activities of the former president and who, most importantly, longs for what some call the early halcyon days of the Trump presidency.
Judge for yourself: Here’s the transcript of the ad I heard Tuesday:
Knock on the door…
Biden poll worker: Hi, I'm a volunteer for Joe Biden. Are you registered to vote?
Black male voice: Yeah, I voted for Biden last time.
Biden poll worker: That's great.
Black male voice: Really. Have you looked around? Everything costs more— Food, gas, housing. We're struggling to pay our bills.
Biden poll worker: OK, but what about everything he's done to protect illegal immigrants?
Black male voice: Protect them? Did you see the Biden’s paying rent for illegals now? They get handouts and we pay for all of it. And Biden's letting Mexican cartels flood our neighborhoods with murderers and drugs?
Biden poll worker: Well, Biden's done a ton to stop transgender discrimination.
Black male voice: Transgender discrimination? Stopping men from using girls bathrooms isn't discrimination. Keeping men out of girls sports and out of girls locker rooms is just common sense.
Biden poll worker: I can still count on your vote, right? Hmmpf…?
Black male voice: Not this time. Trump will stop the sexualization of our children and declare war on the cartels. I'm voting for Donald Trump.
(You can hear the ads here.)
Funniest thing I saw recently
A Reddit user shared this graphic recently, taken from a YouTube ad, and corrected pointed out that—irrespective of the veracity of the graphic—the elements shown do not (can not) share the same Y-axis.