The LuLac Edition #1842, November 20th, 2011

Recent Wilkes Barre Area School Board candidates Kathy Grinaway and Sam Troy.

3rd PARTIES HELP OR HINDER?

I really have no use for Third parties. I know that’s unAmerican but I speak from personal experience. In 1968 then former Alabama Governor George Wallace ran as a Third Party candidate. He carried 6 states. Granted these were southern states that were long gone after the Johnson passed Civil Rights initiatives but he did get 45 Electoral votes. Who knows how much energy and money he siphoned off the Humphrey campaign? Especially in union support. There was a rogue element of labor that fell in love with Wallace.
Ross Perot ran in 1992 and while not carrying a single state, this demented little clown did get 19% of the vote making the Bill Clinton Presidency possible. Only a year before, George H.W. Bush stood at 91% approval in the polls.
In 2000, Ralph Nadar made it possible for another Bush to enter the White House, but by thoroughly illegitimate means. We lost the steady leadership of an Al Gore Presidency. They tell us Third Party candidacies are great for America and for the political system locally. Really?
Let’s take the Wilkes Barre Area School Board race. (I’m not even going to go into the fiasco that was the Wilkes Barre Mayor’s race!)
Democrat Lou Elmy, a crony of convicted school board member Jim Hite ran against Republican Kathy GRinaway. Grinaway almost won a double nomination in the primary. In the General, it was going to be regarded as a head to head battle.
Enter Sam Troy. Troy decided he was going to run as an Independent for Wilkes Barre Area School Board. He also ran for Council as an Independent in District C. (This running for multiple offices really has to be stopped too. The only way you should run for office like that is if you are aspiring for one and want to keep the other just in case you lose. You are already an incumbent. This stuff of throwing something at the electoral pie and seeing if it sticks is pretty stupid.) Anyway, a word about Sam Troy. I like Sam. I think Sam is a dedicated community activist who has something to say. I had nothing but enormous respect for Sam’s parents, Wilbur and Marilyn Troy. Both worked like dogs for Democratic candidates on the West Side. Wilbur was an ardent supporter of the principles of the Democratic party. He finally won a seat on the Valley West School Board, as a dual nominee after many tries. In every national Democratic campaign., no matter how long shot it was, like Mondale as an example, they were out front. Sam inherited that activism and I salute him for it. But this is how the Wilkes Barre Area Board race panned out:
Elmy: 5245
Grinaway 4120
Troy 3029.
Let’s face it, Elmy had the South Wilkes Barre machine behind him. Grinaway came up short by only 1125 votes. Don’t you think she could have gotten a little less than half of the 3,000 votes Sam Troy got?
I don’t criticize Sam Troy for running or campaigning. Nor do I any third party candidate who wants to express themselves. All I’m asking is that before you make the race, look at the options. Your entry into a race might deny a win to a more qualified candidate that would promote the change you so desperately want. As a candidate who has self interest, I understand how you might see how you might be better qualified than the two candidates facing off. But ask yourself one more question, is one of those two candidates you are facing off against in a three way contest more qualified and better prepared than the other? Third party candidacies are a fine exercise in Democracy but that’s all they are, an exercise that most times ends in futility.

NASCAR AND MICHELLE

So the rednecks at NASCAR starting booing the First Lady when she was saluting the troops. Why were they booing? Were they booing the troops fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq? Were they booing the wife of the President that is winding down those wars and getting them home safely? Who were they booing? Do you think they were booing a First Lady or perhaps a First Lady of color? I have a few great friends that are NASCAR fans. One of them, a deceased veteran most likely would be asking the same questions I am if he were alive. Just what the hell were you booing about?

SUPER NOT SO SUPER

That Super Congressional committee has turned out to be another joke. These Senators can’t make a decision and you’ll see the results of their inaction tomorrow when the stock market tanks. By the way, Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey is on the committee and is doing what he does best, help the rich and screw the middle class.