Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made.
- Otto von Bismarck
As a Yankee in the rural South, you quickly learn that no matter how long you are here, you will always be a Yankee. A southern friend told me once that I could live here in the county for 40 years and will always be referred to as that guy from up north.
ahhhhhh, home!
I recently had the opportunity to get involved politically here in Wakulla County. What a difference my political involvement was here vs. my experience in Boston. I had been dormant politically speaking for a few years after my experience as a political fundraiser in Boston. I was burnt out but came out of hiding for a year and a half to get involved locally. I went from planning fundraising dinners at a posh Boston restaurant to cooking hot dogs at a local park here in Crawfordville.
On a separate, quick note, Speaking of food…..you can’t run a campaign here locally unless you feed the potential voters first………..
Southern fish fry’s are all the rage...free food works!
I must say, running with the “players” in Boston and Crawfordville is as different as night and day. In Boston, you pretty much new someone’s agenda. Republican was a Republican and a Democrat was a Democrat.
Here in local Wakulla County? it's not so clear cut. Now, we do have a Democrat and Republican Party here in our small rural town, just on the outskirts of Tallahassee, and the town is of the Democratic majority, but they are not like your typical northern democrats. We call them “Blue Dog” Democrats or Dixiecrats and are more republican in nature and in thinking than most Northern Democrats and even some Northern Republicans.
Although its membership is clearly not exclusively Southern, some view the Blue Dogs as the political successors to a now defunct-in-name Southern Democratic group known as the Boll Weevils, who played a critical role in the early 1980s by supporting President Ronald Reagan's tax cut plan. The Boll Weevils, in turn, may be considered the descendants of the Dixiecrats and the "states' rights" Democrats of the 1940's through the 1960's.
"Blue Dog Democrat" is derived from the term "Yellow Dog Democrat" who were southern democrats said to be so loyal they would even vote for a yellow dog if it were labeled Democrat. Former Texas Democratic Rep. Pete Geren is credited for coining the term, explaining that the members had been "choked blue" by "extreme" Democrats from the left.
The term is also a reference to the "Blue Dog" paintings of Cajun artist George Rodrigue of Lafayette, Louisiana; the original members of the coalition would regularly meet in the offices of Louisiana representatives Billy Tauzin and Jimmy Hayes, both of whom had Rodrigue's paintings on their walls.Tauzin and Hayes later switched to the Republican Party. An additional explanation for the term: "A blue dog is our mascot because when dogs are not let into the house, they stay outside in the cold and turn blue," a reference to moderate and conservative Democrats feeling left out of the Party which they believed had shifted to the political left.
Because we live in a rural community, you may be very active here in a local political party but are paying your mortgage by working from a County office that is held by the leader of the opposing party. Up North, we called that......
.......getting fired.
In the city, if you were an activist for a certain political party and working in a state, county or federal facility run by the opposing party chief, or have any other working relationship with him/her, you would hide your political affiliation and activism.......
.....for fear of loosing your job.
National politics are very clear cut and can be fodder for expanding your group in any local County. local small community politics are very murky. This is where making sausage can be an art form.
I believe politicians need more skill in a rural community than in a larger metropolitan area. Here, a politician may be a strong Republican on a national level ready to skewer anyone who even attempts to align with the current administration, but locally, that aggressive approach is tempered because you may not want to offend the leader of the opposite party as your family depends on the income they earn working for that leader.
So, discussions and agenda get very murky. Even the political yard signs displayed in yards can be very confusing:
You will have a conservative person plant a sign for a local Democrat in his or her yard here during local elections....right next to a Republican candidate's sign who is running for state or national office.
In Boston, the town is run by the mayor. In Crawfordville it’s the sheriff.I remember that being elected as a Mayor of Boston, you had to pretty much fall on your face to not get re-elected time and time again, creating a “machine” ..........
.....that’s very hard to beat.
Here, the Sheriff’s office is the same way.......
......so many years to build relationships and power.
What to do? If you are a party person, State wide and nationally support your party. Locally, support the guy who is best for all of the people.
OR..Be smart and stay out of politics :-)
