All politics

I have heard many times the statement: "All politics is local." The meaning of that, I suppose, is that the local effect of politics overrides the movements on state or national level. The messages of national politicians are tailored to the moods and opinions of their audiences as they tour the country.

I have found a reverse effect in my own community and I have been trying to understand how a politician responds to this.

Utah County has been identified as one of the most, if not the most, Republican counties in the country. Candidates for office, even non-partisan office, must prove their Republican credentials. When the Women's Legislative Council of Utah County holds events, they are listed as non-partisan but the woman conducting the meetings extols "the great Republican values" of its members and only Republican candidates for office are recognized and introduced. In this city only elected officials are allowed to ride in parades, closing that opportunity to other candidates for office, effectively shutting out all but one political party.

During my experience in running a campaign, the most frequently asked question is: "what party are you?" They are convinced that the party affiliation will tell them all they need to know about the candidate standing before them. And what they "know" about the party platforms is what they hear on national television. They will vote with the majority party even when the politics of the majority party are not in their best interest as families and individuals.

In a homogeneous community such as this, the majority party will tend to the extreme -- in this case, extreme conservatism. The only way to have a viable two party system, is to have an opposition party that maintains a moderate platform.

At this point, the Republican party leadership has fairly successfully convinced their voters that a vote for a local Democrat is a vote for the national platform of the Democratic Party. I was told a number of times that I could say that I was independent of party ideology but once elected, I would be pressured my members of my party. A printed copy of the more moderate platform of the Utah County Democratic Party failed to dissuade many.

The interesting thing is that the most popular Republican candidates are those who call themselves "Mavericks" -- a person who acts independent of any partisan pressures.

Maybe in other places, all politics is local. Around here, all politics is national.