By chance a few days ago I decided to look at both the Chatham GOP and Chatham Democrat websites.
The Chatham GOP at http://www.chathamncgop.com is not very interesting. Some things about the upcoming county convention, and the rest is just difficult to find anything.
The Chatham Democrat at http://www.chathamdemsnc.net is more colorful, at least. However, one of the comments on the front page of their website caught my eye:
2020 is just the year that Democrats need to win. The next US census takes place that year, and that is also when the next congressional districts will be redrawn. Democrats can use their electoral gains in 2020 to Gerrymander Republicans out of the House of Representatives.
Have we not heard about Democrat complaints regarding Republican Gerrymandering over and over again?
Later on the website, the Democrat website says
Building on and extending the historic legacy of the Democratic Party, the Chatham County Democratic Party is committed to Fairness, Truth in Government, and Equality.
Here we have a case study on hypocrisy: a pretense of having a virtuous character, moral or religious belief or principle that one does not really possess.
Do not blindly accept what either political party is telling you, and require them (peacefully, of course; riots and semi-riots are not peaceful) to follow their stated principles.
The Chatham County Long-Range Planning Committee will present their latest thoughts to the county this week on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
I have seen the draft documents, and they represent a wide range of options that, based on the committee's collective and so-called progressive (not necessarily unanimous) opinion, will improve Chatham County over the next 25 years.
That may be so. I like several of the ideas, am neutral about some, and cannot tolerate others.
But YOU need to make up your own minds.
WHY?
Because YOU are going to end up paying for whatever this committee recommends to the County Commissioners. Lots of ideas equals lots of need for dollars to pay for ideas. Where do you think those dollars come from? Your wallet.
So if you want to have some small impact on how our Commission spends YOUR dollars, go to one of the input sessions:
Tuesday, February 21, at Chatham Central High School, in the Commons (outside the cafeteria), 5-7 PM
Wednesday, February 22, at the Chatham Community Library, Holmes Meeting Room, 5-7 PM
Thursday, February 23, at the Silk Hope Ruritan Center, Main Hall, 5-7 PM
It is YOUR money.
Several recent posts on the Chatlist discussed the 2016 elections. I looked at the Chatham County official results and did a bit of ciphering to see what they can tell us other than raw numbers.
If you break out the county into its 18 voting precincts you see some clear trends towards voting Democrat or Republican. In the table below I counted the independent Holland candidacy in the GOP column as he was clearly not a Democrat candidate.
Across the board Republican-voting precincts
Albright, Bennet, Bonlee, Goldson, Three Rivers, Harpers Crossroads, and Hickory Mountain.
Mostly Republican-voting precints
Hadley Mills, New Hope, Oakland
Across the board Democrat-voting precincts
Bynum, East Siler City, Pittsboro, Manns Chapel, North Williams, West Williams.
Mostly Democrat-voting precincts
West Siler City, East Williams.
Number of precincts who voted for candidates
President: 11 for Trump, 7 for Clinton
US Senate: 12 for Burr, 6 for Ross
US House: 12 for Walker, 6 for Glidewell
Governor: tied 9 for McCrory, 9 for Cooper
Commissioner 1: 12 for Stobbs, 6 for Howard
Commissioner 2: 10 for Holland, 8 for Dasher
SO WHAT, you ask? This analysis says that despite the individual votes which led to Democracts winning overall across Chatham County, there is a lot of political division across the county. While our current county commission has a solid Democrat majority, according to my analysis there is certainly not a solid Democrat majority support across the County.
Our politicians, at ALL levels of government regardless of party need to realize (and be reminded again and again) they work for the best interest of the citizens and NOT for the success of their party, and that for effective governing politicians need to follow the founding documents of our Constitutions and of our laws. Politicians are not just hired to do a job; they are hired to bring people together. Political parties make this difficult for our elected officials, as parties see politics as a contest to crush their opponents, not necessarily seeking the overall good of the voting public.
Our citizens, REGARDLESS of political leanings, need to realize that political parties are businesses that exist for the party members, and are not focused on the overall good of the citizenry. We all need to help and constrain our elected officials at all levels by gaining information from a variety of both left- and right-leaning news outlets. AND, we need to remember we are all neighbors and will eventually need each other.
