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It's easy to follow national politics by being spoon-fed by the media companies, but following local politics is a little harder. As a strong believer in states rights and smaller federal government, local politics are more important to me, because I can make a bigger impact, compared to trying to drown out the millions of voices that are relatively ignorant. Ever since a man named Rick Scott deceived his way into being governor, I realized that local politics can make an even bigger, if not as big impact as the far-removed people in the white house.
Not all are, I know who my legislators are and know what they are doing when they're not covering something up. I even sort of know what goes on 60 miles to the south in Chicago, and I can tell you this much about that place, Rahm Emanuel will have to buy the next election just as he did the last one.
Might have something to do with declining newspaper readership (more coverage, wit more depth than sound bites) and dependence on mainstream broadcast media (driven by sound bites)?
Might have something to do with declining newspaper readership (more coverage, wit more depth than sound bites) and dependence on mainstream broadcast media (driven by sound bites)?
There you go, you hit the nail on the head.
The best way now to get a grasp on what politicians are doing in any state, is to sign onto delivery of all party newsletters, R, D, and I, and see what they're doing, and watch how they talk about each other's beliefs, bills introduced and so forth. I receive news letters from Barrett (D) Walker (R) Ryan (R) and a host of others via the internet.
Listening to soundbites from biased media sources is what people are accustomed to.
Quote:
Originally Posted by West of Encino
Rick Scott? You mean to the Governor of Florida who thinks divorced men should pay alimony for life?
But I guess it might have to do with the decline of news on important topics.
I would bet that if Clinton impeachment proceedings would have occurred during his first term, he probably wouldn't have been elected.
Because unless something isn't working right (trash pickup, road repairs, snow plowing, water and sewer) people are content to let things roll along.
I've been involved in local government for most of the last 30 years and this has been a constant.
We have to have a public hearing for the budget every year. Some years no one even shows up. Then, two months later here come the questions.
A sample: "My sewer bill went up."
"Well yes, we have to pay for the mandated ENR upgrade."
"What mandated upgrade?"
"The one we've been talking about for the last three years." "How come no one told us?"
"We did, we had meetings, we sent out letters, it's on the website, we had four informational meetings. The State sent out notifications." "Well I didn't know, I never got any of that."
The above, by the way was two months ago. One of hundreds of examples I could give that cover everything from recreation plans to budget to roads to Planning and Zoning.
Add to that the real phenomenon that "your guy is crappy but my guy is great".
The declining newspaper reading could be part of this, but there is still no excuse. Most towns and cities have small, local papers that cover the local happenings, there are town meetings and most states have once a week TV news coverage, like PBS. We had this in Texas, NM and here. Also there is local news on TV nightly. To me, as the OP said, local and state politics are more important than national because we have more control, it affects us more directly and our vote makes a bigger difference or can, that our general vote at the national level. The election of city council people, county commissioners, judges, etc. are often won or lost by just a handful of votes.
It's easy to follow national politics by being spoon-fed by the media companies, but following local politics is a little harder. As a strong believer in states rights and smaller federal government, local politics are more important to me, because I can make a bigger impact, compared to trying to drown out the millions of voices that are relatively ignorant. Ever since a man named Rick Scott deceived his way into being governor, I realized that local politics can make an even bigger, if not as big impact as the far-removed people in the white house.
Sure you can.
Most would rather whine about property taxes and the Federal Government than pay attention to what's going on in their own backyards.
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Why are people so clueless about local politics?
