Author: The Reporter
Well, my fellow Pennsylvanians, school buses have hit their rhythm, pumpkin displays are outside the stores, leaves are turning, and people are making plans for Thanksgiving.That all points to one thing: Another election is upon us.The odd-year elections are the easiest to participate in.Even in crowded districts, late into the day, you may be handed a ballot with a number in the low one-hundreds.If you are the kind of person who believes in democracy as an institution, though, these are important elections.Not merely because voting is your duty as a citizen, but because the positions elected November 7 — judges, commissioners, school boards — underpin our democracy.I might have mentioned this previously: I was raised in a very politically active, Republican household. My father’s father was a judge, so I heard a lot about the danger posed to our country by “liberal activist judges” who were using rulings to legislate from the bench.By that definition, the biggest example of “judicial activism” we have ever witnessed was the recent decision by the current, conservative-dominated Supreme Court to take away a right from Americans.A decision with which only about one third of the electorate agreed.Now that’s activism.When Ronald Reagan, at his own inauguration as the head of the federal government, declared that “government is the problem,” he invited the anti-government coalition into his party.It has taken a while for some of them to percolate to the top, but now the GOP has a serious enough infection of them that they were able to stop the country from conducting business for more than two weeks during what most voters agree is a fairly urgent time.In America, we instituted a government among ourselves that derives its powers from the consent of the governed.The Matt Gaetzes of the world may not consent, but they do not represent the majority of the country. Heck, they don’t even represent the majority of the GOP.The simple fact is that you cannot be the party of law and order if you think government is the problem.You cannot support the troops if you believe that government is the problem.You cannot be for justice, education, highways, Medicare, Social Security, FEMA, space exploration, and on and on, if you believe that government is the problem.Our ballots this fall focus on local government positions.But we cannot pretend that the disorder in Washington is just the result of a few bad Republican actors elected by voters from somewhere else.The Chester County GOP was quick to post a special message in support of Israel, but where is the message about continuing to support Ukraine against a full-scale military invasion by the megalomaniacal dictator next-door?Where was the message about where the party — and its candidates — stand on the GOP controlled House effectively shutting down the government?If the local party and its candidates are unwilling to express outrage about the powerful anti-government, anti-majoritarian coalition in their midst for fear of alienating some voters, then I would recommend they seek positions that do not involve leadership, because leadership means accepting responsibility and taking action.Lastly, the school boards. Give the incumbents your serious consideration.Hear me out.The school board members who are up for re-election in most districts were last elected in 2019.Back before we knew the pandemic.Before Social Justice Warriors. Before the Very Loud People.Before fights about masks.Before Moms for Liberty.Before all this, the incumbents were drawn to a thankless job that eats up hours, pays nothing, and features no glamour because they believed in the importance of public education.They have endured the pitchfork and effigy-burning of the last four years and, in spite of it — in spite of being yelled at, insulted, confronted at grocery stores, labeled and branded and booed — in spite of all that, they have decided that they are no less committed to their communities and will gladly endure four more years of heckling just to make sure our region’s schools meet the needs of all of our region’s children.You can disagree with me, obviously.But your disagreement amounts to a hill of beans if you do not take the time to learn about the candidates on your ballot, and then go vote.Will Wood is a small business owner, veteran, and half-decent runner. He lives, works, and writes in West Chester.
