We have finally hit the end of this dismal election cycle, with the Democrats — deservedly — facing dim prospects and a wave of lunatics on the precipice of gaining entry to the nation’s statehouses and national legislature.
It is a sad state of affairs, but one that serves the corporate world well, because it keeps the rightwing strong and sends liberals chasing their tales until they collapse from exhaustion.
That said, I will hit the voting booth tomorrow to cast my ballot. Look, I have no illusions that either party has much in common with my belief system — I am, as I have taken to describing myself, an Anarchist radical populist progressive socialist, meaning I hate large concetrations of power, in particular corporate power, but view the existence of democratic government (when it functions as an extension of the people) as a bulkwark against corporate power. But I can see some candidates — U.S. Rep. Rush Holt, for instance — as having a lot to recommend themselves.
But this is not the post I intended to write. My focus was to be on the anti-politician meme that has controlled this year’s election. Consider Scott Sipprelle, who is running against Rush Holt. His campaign is predicated on painting Holt as a career politician, while painting himself as outside of politics.
A businessman, not a politician — but then, the act of running for office makes one a politican. That’s just the way the language works.
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| A sign on Kendall Park in Kendall Park. |
And it happens at the local level, as well. Mike Kushwarra and Steven Walrond, the Republicans running for mayor and Township Council in South Brunswick, are calling themselves “public servants not politicans,” a claim that automatically paints the opposition as politicians. Both were township police officers and still live in town — the public service part of the claim — but aren’t they, by virtue of the campaign, politicians, as well? Walrond, of course, ran for council two years ago — which makes it pretty clear that he is a politician just like everyone else. And Kushwarra has run for school board, so I leave it to readers to make up their minds.
None of this should surprise anyone, given the anti-incumbency tenor of the election season. Politicians are running against themselves, which cannot be good for anyone, especially voters.
- Send me an e-mail.
- Read poetry at The Subterranean.
- Certainties and Uncertainties a chapbook by Hank Kalet, will be published in November by Finishing Line Press. it can be ordered here.
- Suburban Pastoral, a chapbook by Hank Kalet, available here.
