It's My Party (and I'll Cry If I Want To)
In 1864, Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, took the unusual step of selecting a Democrat, Andrew Johnson, as his running mate. It was a cagey move. Lincoln had been impressed with Johnson's administration of Tennessee as a wartime governor, and he created a National Unity ticket with an eye towards a post-Civil War reconciliation with the Confederate States.
Given Lincoln's willingness to put partisan politics aside, I found some irony from a recent post in the Monmouth Country Republican Blog, which is managed by an anonymous editor who goes by the name of "Honest Abe." Abe was lamenting the recent results in Holmdel, in which only one of the two Republican candidates won a seat on the Township Committee:
Mayor Serena DiMaso was reelected, but her running mate, Jerry Allocco, was defeated by Democrat Janet Berk. DiMaso and Allocco were on opposing slates in the primary, but teamed up for the general election. Sadly, it is reported that some Republicans worked for the democrats, resulting in a close race and Allocco's loss.
The truth is actually a little more interesting. GOP candidates for state and county offices easily routed their Democratic opponents in townwide voting. Even the eventual Democratic winner in the Freeholder race, John D'Amico, trailed his nearest opponent by almost 400 votes. Holmdel's Republican proclivities remain solidly in place. In the face of this Republican landslide, it counts as a small political miracle that Janet and I collectively attracted 52 percent of the vote in the Holmdel Township Committee race.
Abe's sadness (which might be better described as ire) stems from his frustration that Republicans in Holmdel are not political robots. They can unite with Democrats and Independents around issues of common local interest without sacrificing their political loyalties on a national, state or even county level.
A healthy political discourse begins by replacing polemics with consensus building and problem solving, especially since party platforms cannot cover every contingency. Common sense usually fills the void. Or to quote from Lincoln himself--"Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed."
Lincoln made that observation in 1858. Roughly 150 years later, it still offers a good guidepost for addressing the challenges of any community.
Given Lincoln's willingness to put partisan politics aside, I found some irony from a recent post in the Monmouth Country Republican Blog, which is managed by an anonymous editor who goes by the name of "Honest Abe." Abe was lamenting the recent results in Holmdel, in which only one of the two Republican candidates won a seat on the Township Committee:
Mayor Serena DiMaso was reelected, but her running mate, Jerry Allocco, was defeated by Democrat Janet Berk. DiMaso and Allocco were on opposing slates in the primary, but teamed up for the general election. Sadly, it is reported that some Republicans worked for the democrats, resulting in a close race and Allocco's loss.
The truth is actually a little more interesting. GOP candidates for state and county offices easily routed their Democratic opponents in townwide voting. Even the eventual Democratic winner in the Freeholder race, John D'Amico, trailed his nearest opponent by almost 400 votes. Holmdel's Republican proclivities remain solidly in place. In the face of this Republican landslide, it counts as a small political miracle that Janet and I collectively attracted 52 percent of the vote in the Holmdel Township Committee race.
Abe's sadness (which might be better described as ire) stems from his frustration that Republicans in Holmdel are not political robots. They can unite with Democrats and Independents around issues of common local interest without sacrificing their political loyalties on a national, state or even county level.
A healthy political discourse begins by replacing polemics with consensus building and problem solving, especially since party platforms cannot cover every contingency. Common sense usually fills the void. Or to quote from Lincoln himself--"Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed."
Lincoln made that observation in 1858. Roughly 150 years later, it still offers a good guidepost for addressing the challenges of any community.
posted by msockol at 1:16 PM
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