Esther Porter vs. Margaret Hale? No contest - Hale will win again in another landslide
Once upon a time not all that long ago in the midst of a recent political season I confided two bits of supposed political wisdom upon a local elected official piling signs out of an automobile. These two axioms of dubious wisdom and quality were as follows:
Political Rule #1 Never run against a Fireman
Political Rule #2 Never run against a Fireman's wife.
This alone should convince Esther Porter she has no chance whatsoever to beat Margaret Hale in the 2010 Republican Primary and de facto General Election for the Oconee County Board of Commissioners. Margaret has had a health scare recently but in no way should this effect her ability to govern, although she did miss the most recent Board of Commissioners meeting.
I suppose Porter could be hedging her bet against Hale's health worsening, but even the most cynical political observer would not want their opponent to get more sick in order to win. In the insular world of whisper campaigns as loud as dynamite locally, this strategy might actually backfire and garner Hale even more sympathy votes in her struggles.
I think that by in that some of the old school elements in Oconee have urged Porter to run again. I would have urged a martyrdom campaign strategy around the whole Keep Oconee Beautiful fiasco, but Lee Becker's unearthing of the doubled raise of former director John McNally leaves a taint and a stench to the whole enchilada. Also I know of no anti-builder bias in Oconee or even Athens for that matter when it comes to pulling the lever, although the four thousand empty lots and numerous PVC farms and seemingly abandoned subdivisions do not bode well for Porter or her political viability.
What I do think there is abundantly clear is that certain elements of the local G.O.P. are afraid of anyone who does not display their conservative credentials proud or loud enough, and that in general relative newcomer John Daniell, Margaret Hale and Chuck Horton remain in the cross hairs of a reactionary minority with whom nothing short of a conservative litmus test putsch would make them happy. No Republicans in Name Only (RINOs) in my back yard or my commission according to these ill-tempered types.
There is seemingly a much larger segment of the local voting populace that realize a few bits of cold political reality that seems to make the far right fringe angry around these parts. Chief among these is that the patronage and favoritism has to stop, that Oconee County is in serious economic jeopardy without some kind of limited and specific economic partnership with Athens-Clarke, and that the anti-incumbency fervor can only go so far when it comes to what actually gets done in this county.
Hale beat Porter like a drum once before and will do it again. Hale had nearly two and half times the votes of Porter in 2008, and I am not sensing some shift where suddenly several thousand people are going to change their minds.
Political Rule #1 Never run against a Fireman
Political Rule #2 Never run against a Fireman's wife.
This alone should convince Esther Porter she has no chance whatsoever to beat Margaret Hale in the 2010 Republican Primary and de facto General Election for the Oconee County Board of Commissioners. Margaret has had a health scare recently but in no way should this effect her ability to govern, although she did miss the most recent Board of Commissioners meeting.
I suppose Porter could be hedging her bet against Hale's health worsening, but even the most cynical political observer would not want their opponent to get more sick in order to win. In the insular world of whisper campaigns as loud as dynamite locally, this strategy might actually backfire and garner Hale even more sympathy votes in her struggles.
I think that by in that some of the old school elements in Oconee have urged Porter to run again. I would have urged a martyrdom campaign strategy around the whole Keep Oconee Beautiful fiasco, but Lee Becker's unearthing of the doubled raise of former director John McNally leaves a taint and a stench to the whole enchilada. Also I know of no anti-builder bias in Oconee or even Athens for that matter when it comes to pulling the lever, although the four thousand empty lots and numerous PVC farms and seemingly abandoned subdivisions do not bode well for Porter or her political viability.
What I do think there is abundantly clear is that certain elements of the local G.O.P. are afraid of anyone who does not display their conservative credentials proud or loud enough, and that in general relative newcomer John Daniell, Margaret Hale and Chuck Horton remain in the cross hairs of a reactionary minority with whom nothing short of a conservative litmus test putsch would make them happy. No Republicans in Name Only (RINOs) in my back yard or my commission according to these ill-tempered types.
There is seemingly a much larger segment of the local voting populace that realize a few bits of cold political reality that seems to make the far right fringe angry around these parts. Chief among these is that the patronage and favoritism has to stop, that Oconee County is in serious economic jeopardy without some kind of limited and specific economic partnership with Athens-Clarke, and that the anti-incumbency fervor can only go so far when it comes to what actually gets done in this county.
Hale beat Porter like a drum once before and will do it again. Hale had nearly two and half times the votes of Porter in 2008, and I am not sensing some shift where suddenly several thousand people are going to change their minds.
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