I have an advantage over most people – I don’t have cable or satellite television in my home (normally when I tell people this, the reactions range from disbelief to talk of reporting me to the authorities for child neglect).
What this means, though, is that I do not subject myself to even a passing glance at the circus that passes itself off as “news” on the various 24-hour fear/pundit fests (Hint: if every story is “Important Breaking News” then you’ve diluted the concept).
This also means that I’m not engaging in the discussion about the 2012 Presidential race – and, for whatever it’s worth, I don’t think any Delawarean should be too wrapped up in the Presidential race, either (OK, maybe the Biden family is an exception to that rule).
Let’s do a little reality check, Delaware – we have three electoral votes – we have never been, and probably never will be a deciding factor in a Presidential race.
The closest thing our little state has come to relevance is our February Presidential Primaries, where we’d at least get to play some kind of role in giving a boost to a candidate or two making their way from New Hampshire to South Carolina – those days are now behind us.
So, my rule is simple – if you want to talk about who may or may not be running for President, if you want to go to rallies or get into debates about Candidate A’s position on foreign policy versus Candidate B’s tax plan, just leave me out.
Think about this for a minute – as a Delawarean, if you want to influence the political landscape you have the following options:
1. raise and donate millions of dollars to your Presidential Candidate of choice
2. move to a state with more electoral votes
3. engage at the local level
Let’s see, in 2012 ALL 62 seats in the Delaware General Assembly will be up for re-election – so will candidates at the County level, and even a few town councils and mayors. Think about this – if you pour your time and energy into a Presidential campaign, and your candidate gets elected – do you think you can pick up the phone the day after election day and call the President-elect to talk about some of your ideas? Yea, good luck with that.
But, imagine putting your time and effort into getting someone elected to the State House of Representatives, and they win – it’s entirely possible that the next morning you’ll be sitting at the table with them having coffee and discussing plans for the upcoming legislative session.
So, if you still want to obsess over the Presidential race, do me a favor and don’t bother me, I’ll be busy trying to make a real difference in the political landscape.
