Campaigns Starting Up...

I haven't posted for a bit - nothing has ticked me off lately, I guess. But I thought it was worth saying something about candidate positioning in the upcoming election cycles. I'll focus locally, on the Claverack Town Board seats, but I'll start with the NY district 19 race, which looks like it will be a Molinaro/Riley rematch.

So far Marc Molinaro is treading a fine line, juggling like Kevin McCarthy as he waits to see how much power the MAGA faction (now popularly called the "chaos monkeys" in the leftern media) will solidify behind their anti-democracy goals; while still trying to seem rational to the moderate and independent voters in the district. Josh Riley has declared that he'll run again, and with any luck the Dems will gather round without launching into another crowded and confusing primary cycle.

Riley lost last November (IMHO) by running on Pat Ryan's platform from August. Caught behind in the news cycle again, the Dems lost a whopping five congressional seats. Columbia county shifted over 8 points to the red, and I attribute much of it to their nearly exclusive emphasis of the Dobbs decision on abortion. That was big news in August, and - while no less important - not top of mind for many voters by November, when we were starting to worry about inflation and Repubs were hyping crime.

So what's the recipe? Riley's website emphasizes all the classic Dem positions, with a solid focus on rational legislation for gun rights and agriculture and crime. Political goals are there, such as fair voting and limiting gerrymandering (although let's not forget the way Dems celebrated their own gerrymander last year) are mentioned. What's maybe missing, for me anyway, is a focus on community.

We are torn apart in this country, and when I talk to my neighbors I hear a great sigh of fatigue. I believe people are tired of fighting about everything, and they are exhausted by politicians who are constantly screaming that the other side is driving us over a cliff. The national Repubs seem to be unable to stop this apocalyptic style of political positioning, while the Dems always seem on the verge of tipping into it because (for the past few years, anyway) it appears to work. Inflame and conquer.

What if people really are weary of this political style? What would that look like at a local level?

In Claverack, the Town Board is dominated by Republicans with one Democrat. The board members (and the Town Clerk and Highway Department head) are all native to the area. There is a vast advantage in a small town to knowing where everything is and who everyone is, being able to connect all the little oddities of the area to decisions made in the past for perfectly rational reasons, and understanding the "way things have always worked". The problem is that this model of governance is unsustainable and becoming ineffective.

Technological innovations like broadband and solar energy are poorly understood and their implementation is managed reactively instead of proactively. Available grants for improvements, like those received by neighboring towns like Austerlitz and Philmont, are never applied for because the process is "really complicated". And as I've mentioned (but haven't elaborated much, I know - give me time) the town's Comprehensive Plan, developed 15 years ago with Board input and taxpayer money, has been pretty much ignored. We still have no sidewalks, no town center, few businesses, and roads that encourage drivers to speed through Claverack without seeing us as a town at all. Oh, and the Town Board meetings are no longer broadcast by zoom, because "the system never really worked all that well".

Let's face it, our old school town government is aging out.

Back to political positioning based on community, then. Let's admit that Supervisor Kippy Weigelt and Board members Stephen "Hookie" Hook and Katy Cashen are some of the most knowledgable leaders a small town could have. It's just that times are changing, and these guys are not going to bring us through the next 20 years.

Instead of calling anyone out as a "do nothing" or using a lame "why won't Kippy agree to a debate" campaign strategy, how about if both parties start talking about the future of Claverack? The future of this town should be structured around a center, a historic and beautiful place to live in the Hudson valley, a good place for kids to play and walk and go to school, clean air and water and open land.

There are two seats up for election on the Board this year. As of now no candidates have announced, whether the seated Board members or new Dems or Repubs. Any Republican messaging is likely to stick to the simple "Claverack is Working" banner that's been used successfully in the past few cycles. It will be interesting, if the Dems choose to run new blood candidates, how they will craft their message.

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Josh Riley, Democratic candidate for NY congressional district 19 in 2022 - and now in 2024.