Politics.
We all hate politics. The name calling. The exaggerated rhetoric. Partisanship. Oh! the partisanship…
Mudslinging? Pff! That’s child’s play.
But since I’ve entered the race for Planning and Zoning Commission here in Tolland, I’ve seen a different kind of politics, a kind of politics that I believe Madison and all those other men had in mind so many years ago. It’s a kind of politics I actually like. It’s somehow pure and clean, at least in the race for P&Z.
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It’s the politics of what’s best for the town, where the candidates are putting the needs of the town first, instead of putting their re-election prospects on top. Local Republicans are campaigning under the banner “Putting Tolland Citizens First.” And as I chat with other P&Z candidates, I’m impressed with just how much we genuinely care about Tolland and its citizens.
Better yet, I am supremely impressed with the reactions of the people of Tolland to the political process. How do I know?
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I know because I have witnessed firsthand how Tolland residents reacted to my standing at the Exit 68 westbound entrance ramp for I-84 last Saturday. In the hour-and-a-quarter that I stood there, waving my signs, waving my hands, smiling, and greeting people, I was met with exactly one “thumbs down”. That’s it for negative reactions. Of course, I didn’t get smiles and waves from everybody, but those people who reacted at all reacted in a friendly way. Lots of waves, lots of smiles.
And yet I was clearly out there as a candidate for political office, as an aspiring politician, a word that most people use as an epithet. But that didn’t stop people from being nice. Even though I was, in essence, nobody special to the people who drove by, I was out there waving, being nice. And they were nice in return.
My observations lead me to believe that from both the candidate’s view and from the citizen’s view, this is the way politics should be. It should be a collaborative effort. It should be a friendly undertaking. Though we may differ in how we get from here to there, I think we’re all on the same page that politics like this is how we take care of our community and our citizens.
And that’s how it should be. Right, Mr. Madison?
