Nothing is worse than losing to the learning curve. The iPhone typad app, apparently does not auto-save. I know that now. Hopefully this new entry will prove better than the one just lost to operator error. Fortunately that is the worst thing that happenend to me today. Minor in comparison to what can be lost to the learning curve of out of town drivers adjusting to VERY local traffic patterns.
Speaking of out of towners, Boulder is host for the Internationl Downtown Assocation Conference. As a member of the Downtown Managment Commission, I attended the reception. I had the pleasure of speaking with civic leaders from Anchorage, Harlem, Windsor ON and others. While all where on message as representatives and champions of their communities, their sincere admiration for Boulder's Downtown, only reminds that nothing makes you more aware of the wonders of the place you call home than guests. I also talked to locals about the state of city government which only reminds of the challenges of good housekeeping.
Boulder is not without it's problems, Colorado likewise, and it's difficult to determine if during election cycles the negativity is a function of the seriousness of our problems, or is this panic the reason we have so few? Boulder holds herself to a sometimes impossibly high standard, where if we were to simply view our success in context of a city instead of a country club, perhaps we would not be a superior city.
I question if the relentless pursuit of perfection is actually the inefficiency that prevents us from having it, nonetheless we are in an election cycle and therefore it is time to incite panic.
The state senate debate between Cindy Carlisle and Rollie Heath was typical in being heavy in laying out problems, light in solutions. It was also typical in that if you hadn't already decided which candidate to support in this primary you probably came away still undecided as both candidates are clearly qualified, and have the same basic political philosophy. It was also typical in that no one in the audience was there for any reason but to support the candidate they had chosen quite some time ago. The hardest thing in a local election is making people aware that there is one. So as typical the sparse audience was full of supporters.
I support Cindy Carlisle. A democratic primary, particulalry in Boulder County is about who can out left the other. Cindy clearly wins that contest. But while I do admire Rollie's pragmatism, and he is probabaly closer to my political philosophy but, when I engage the context of how our State House actually works, When I factor the width of the political spectrum at the Capitol, and when I account for the fact that as I'm generally personally to the right of most of Boulder, when I objectively consider who would be the most reliable representative of the values of SD18, it is pretty clear that Cindy Carlisle is the superior candidate to represent famously, and in the context of State politics, importantly liberal Boulder. Cindy will get my support and vote.
But there is one other issue. The following certainly influenced my decision in this race as well as CD2, but I discuss here to inform, not to sway.
Boulder county is a for all intensive purposes a Uni-party county. Republicans rarely run and when they do they loose in a landslide. This is dangerous for democracy as well as the democratic party. Just because the conservative mindset is the minority does not mean they do not deserve representation. Further the "can't loose" mindset of the Democrats has created a system of spoils. The answer to potential candidates who would consider running for office is "wait your turn". Thankfully Cindy with political capital and Jared Polis with . . . ahem, capital capital where able to challenge this system and save us from the politics of usual. I do believe that Cindy Carlisile and Jared Polis have the strongest platforms in their respective races. But I also was going to vote for them anyway because this entitlement cannot be tolerated from democrats either.
Apparently absolute power does corrupt absolutlely and the once hopeful progressive Boulder County Democratic machine is slowly becoming the Republican party it replaced. The end game of the spoils system is mediocrity that opens a void for the opposition. While I don't know if a resurgent Boulder County Republican party would be the worst thing in the world, I rather think it would be a good thing for both the city and the county, I do know that a vote for Cindy and Jared would be an important first step in getting our democratic house in order. Housekeeping is hard work, in this election we have two brooms, let's use them.
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