So you say you’re a Republican

The reality of the American political system is that, today, a voter has the choice of voting either Republican or Democrat. It would, conceivably, be nice to have a number of valid choices from which to choose when voting. As much as Bob Barr might like it to be so, our next President will either be a Republican or a Democrat.

Here, in Fayette County, the choices have been even slimmer lately. The viability of the two-party system is lost here, as it is in many counties across this nation. The hope is that that situation is about to change.

One of the joys of being the “out” party is that you can point to the record of the “in” party and then stand for change. And it is about time that the voters of Fayette County begin to view change not as an enemy, but as a reality with which we must deal. And it is up to the Democratic Party to represent the voters who are ready to face that new reality.

The problem with partisan politics is that it is always easy to point at the name at the top of the ticket, and to brand all those who carry the same moniker as having the same core of beliefs. We all know that is not necessarily the case. While people who voluntarily join a political party generally pay for that honor, they are then given the responsibility of supporting that party’s candidates, even if they might disagree with that candidate on some issues.

To bring this down to local elections and the local voters, there will be a time in the future {just how far in the future no one knows for sure} when we, the citizens of Fayette County, will look around and say, what happened to our county? What happened to the pastureland? What happened to our schools? What happened to our traffic-free roads? At that point, it will probably be too late to do anything about the things we see as happening around us.

It is now time for the voters to take a long hard look at politics in Fayette County and just what those politics have given them and what those politics will bring them in the future. If one thinks that everything is “groovy” and will continue to be “groovy” as long as one does not rock the political vote, then we are destined to be saddled with the same sorts of government and leadership that we have lived through for the past umpteen years. If, however, one thinks that, while things are fine now, they will not continue to be fine far into the conceivable future, then we have to figure out a way to face change, not as an enemy, but as an opportunity to advance and succeed. We can learn from the mistakes of others, but we cannot stand still while the rest of the world/metro area moves on. It is time for the voters of Fayette County to take a long hard look at how the two major parties envision facing those changes.

change in fayette

Submitted by surferdude on Wed, 05/28/2008 - 8:17pm.

the kind of change (increase in crime and gang activity) that we have seen in fayette is not the kind of change that we want yardman5508. maybe people like you are reddy and willing to embrace it but we would rather that it stay in clayton and fulton counties

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dude...

Submitted by yardman5508 on Wed, 05/28/2008 - 8:39pm.

I hope you do not think that I welcome the types of change you mentioned in your post. What I want to insure is that our officials and voters do not bury their heads in the sand thinking that this is merely a blip and that it will eventually go away. We have to be "reddy" (sic) and willing to make the changes necessary to make sure we remain the "jewel of the Southern Crescent". We have to look forward and prepare, not backward and gloat. Keep the faith.

Even a dead fish can go with the flow.

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