I never ran for class president when I was a middle school student, despite that I cared deeply about several issues. Why didn’t I run? Because in middle school, “politics” was all about how popular you were, and I was a bit shy and introverted.
You’re probably wondering what this has to do with today’s politics and specifically, how does it affect my decision of who to vote for in a three-way race for the two House seats in the Bennington-4 District that includes Arlington, Manchester, Sunderland and Sandgate. Let me explain.
The three candidates are Kathleen James, Seth Bongartz and Joe Gervais. We are blessed to have three of our neighbors who are willing to step up and do the difficult, and often thankless, task of governance. All three of these folks are decent, hard-working people, and all of them are asking for your vote.
Q: How should you decide who to vote for?
A: You should decide based on each of the candidate’s positions and what issues they support. Not by how nice and friendly they are. After all, this is not middle school. (Check out their websites; there is a very big difference in priorities, policies and facts.)
One issue that’s near and dear to me is climate change. You don’t have to be a scientist to see that we don’t get as much snow as we used to. When my son was born, Dec. 29, 1977, we lived on Red Mountain Road in Arlington. When Dan was 3 weeks old, I strapped him to my chest (my mother was horrified!) and went cross-country skiing around the house. There was 3 feet of snow on the ground, which was normal for that time of year. Now, there’s often bare ground on Dec. 29.
Kathleen and Seth have supported intelligent solutions to address climate change with more sustainable, more affordable choices for heating and transportation that benefit all Vermonters. They also support affordable health care, universal broadband, public education, small businesses and local farms, addiction services, working families and a woman’s right to choose.
Joe Gervais, by contrast, does not support a woman’s right to choose. It’s interesting to me that the same politicians that decry “big government” and say the government should leave us alone, in the next breath want to have the government intrude into the most private parts of our lives, including decisions about our own bodies.
I urge you to look at the specifics, and vote for James and Bongartz.
Carl Bucholt,