The Great Change: Turning Cathy into a Lawyer

Yet another election-related entry, but this one's a little different.

My dad is running for town council, and I've decided to do my daughterly duty and show my support for his campaign.

I don't live in his town so I can't speak much to some of the issues. But on a meta-level, I think his campaign is a good thing. The town I grew up in did not have partisan elections. Candidates were evaluated on their specific positions. In my dad's town (not where I grew up) they do have partisan elections, but for years and years only one party was ever represented. Even with the best of intentions such a situation is, if not dangerous, certainly not in the best interests of the town. One party pretty much decides everything internally, from who the candidates will be (and therefore who the mayor and councilmembers will be) to how all the issues will be decided. Civic involvement stagnates as everyone resigns themselves to accepting that the status quo is just how things are. My dad is part of a slate of candidates from the other major party, represented in an election in his town for the first time in years.

But it isn't about the partisan politics, and in fact, how the two slates' positions map doesn't necessarily follow strict delineations of the Democratic and Republican platforms. It's about having a choice, or even more than that, waking people up to even thinking about having a choice. Even if my dad or his fellow candidates don't win, by having been part of the political process and encouraging their neighbors to have gotten involved they've already made a positive difference in their town.

Of course, I hope he wins. Not just because he's my dad and I want good things for my dad, but because this means in a few years I can move to his town, inherit my political legacy and claim my rightful position as town councilmember. Because isn't that the way politics works in America?