Denise Robinson. You have to go back well over a decade to remember the last time a Republican held elective office in the City of Erie. Mrs. Robinson, the wife of the original Erie County Executive, won the post to City Council in the 1980’s before she became an advocate for the elderly in the Ridge Administration in Harrisburg.
They say that the city electorate is split 75-25 Democrat to Republican. It’s funny that Republicans can often do well in county offices, but never in the city. Sue Weber can coast to reelection for County Controller, but Tim Butler was the latest GOP hopeful to run into the buzz saw of Democrat-dominated city politics.
Dig a little into the numbers and you can see why. Countywide, one seventh of the voters threw the straight party switch for the Dems; that mindless loyalty to the ticket ensures the status quo of stagnancy and decline for the region. There seems to be no consideration that fresh ideas and fiscal responsibility might come from the other line on the ballot.
That’s not to say that every Republican deserves to win, but the smart and capable Tim Butler certainly deserved a chance to serve this community and let Mr. Cappabianca enjoy his retirement. I think that this sorry state of the Democrat lock down takes out would-be Republican candidates who’d rather not enter such a quixotic endeavor. What kind of fiscal and social conservative could capture the imagination of a city electorate hungry for change and crisp new vision?
November 8th, 2007 at 10:04 am
Hey, Joel, if anyone’s “mindless”, it’s the local GOP who intentionally cede the City to the Dems so as not to encourage a turnout that might lose them their more preferred County offices.
Why should I care more about electing a Republican than does the chairman of the local GOP? Like a lot of other city voters, I’m registered Dem just so I can participate in the only primary of any consequence. I wonder just how many of us DINO’s there are sometimes.
But,do I have the burden of finding out just who Tim Butler is or should I just stay home because it’s apparent that he didn’t enjoy the full backing of his own party? It’s been an easy call for years and blaming the Dems for that is just wrong.
November 8th, 2007 at 11:37 am
I’m in the minority as a registered Rep in the city. But I think the blame lies with the people of the city, not with any specific party (though one could make a case for blaming the democrats, since that is the primary political demographic of the city). For all the years I have lived here, I’ve heard nothing but bitching about how bad the city is, how we need change, yadda, yadda, yadda. Yet every election cycle we see the same people (or the same type of people) voted back into office. That, to me, says that all these people who “talk” about wanting change are blowing hot air. They don’t really want change at all. If they did, they’d start voting out the boobs who haven’t changed anything in this city (other than taxes!) for years.
November 8th, 2007 at 11:19 pm
Joel,
Are you talking about Erie or have you been reading our local paper? Pol after pol being indicted on corruption charges. The state being 30 billion in the hole and 3 ballot questions asking the electorate to borrow over $650 million more. Yet people keep pulling the same levers year after year. There was a ballot question recommending that the words ‘idiot’ and ‘insane’ be removed from the state constitution because they were innacurate and hurtful. I think the people that keep voting for the same guys year after year because they have the same ‘label’ they do qualifies as idiotic and insane. Would government grind to a halt if someone from another party got in? Come to think of it grinding to a halt might be better that what we have now. Its a mess and we’re just too dumb to realize it.
November 9th, 2007 at 8:41 am
What does it say when voters would rather risk putting into office the same candidates/party rather than voting for a Republican candidate? I think Joe nailed the issue.