After the Election

I wanted to write something after the election, but what I'm going to write about is after the election of 2006. I really enjoyed meeting the people during the 2006 and 2008 election, so even after I lost the bid for county commissioner in 2006 I continued to go to the dinners to see the friends I had made. I will do the same this time around as well. Just probably not eating 5 dinners in one day.

It has been 2 years and one week since the election of 2006 and I have some observations that I would like to share. You can really tell the people that learn to care about the people they have met and those that only went to the dinners for political reasons. Those politicians that only did it for political reasons; I have news for you the people notice.

In 2006 in Mineral County there were several of us on the ballot, School Board, County Clerk and Commissioner. On a higher level the State Senate and House and US Congress. Now the House both State and US run every 2 years, so those guys are in constant campaign mode, so I'm going to talk about the longer terms.

On School Board, I occasionally see Terry LaRue who won the race and I also see Butch Wahl that lost. That tells me that they still are trying to stay in touch with the public and that is a good thing. Bob Shook I have never seen since the election of 2006 and Kevin Watson I have seen once or twice. Now many of these people may have lives that do not allow them to make the dinner rounds and events or they may be seeing the people at other places. It is just my observation.

On the County Government level, I see both Clerk candidates on a semi-regular basis. Lauren Ellifritz is usually traveling with her Mom, but she is out there in the community. Marc Rice is also seen. He is usually helping the community in some way, many times with a fire department function, but the point is they didn't give up on the county after the election.

Now for the tricky part talking about my own race in 2006. I still travel the county and meet the people. The fact of the matter is I enjoyed making new friends and just because I didn't win doesn't mean that I give up on my new found friends. Besides there is some really great food to be had in the county and you get the opportunity to help out the local fire departments, rescue squads, churches and sometimes people that just need help. Just because you didn't win doesn't mean you don't stop caring. Now my opponent in the 2006 election. Well lets be frank she dropped off the face of the Earth. I have not seen her at a single fundraising dinner or talked to anybody that has, I'm sorry but that is wrong. The people voted to put her back in power and she has a right to show respect to the people that elected her. How can you govern effectively without being in touch with the people?

Now during that time I also ran into other officials that were not up for relections. Rose Anne Maine, Gary White and Mary Margaret Rinehart were out there in the community meeting and greeting the people that put them into office. I shows that the care and want to keep in contact with the public, because it is important to the people to have access to the elected officials.

This past Saturday I ate my dinner at the Fountain Ruritan and many people talked about the election and my performance in the election of 2008. I knew I was among friends and I only saw one other candidate from the previous election and people will remember those that give true support to the community and those that only show up when they want your vote.