Vote the candidate, not the party

Years ago, a North Carolina country pastor made a profound statement that remains valid today. While he was traveling the back country roads to visit his churches, he stated: “Be very careful of the rut you pick to follow because you will be in it for a long time.”

Our community has been in a rut for many years. This has increased in severity with the influence of Republican endorsements for candidates in nonpartisan local elections. Citizens running for office outside of party endorsement have not been able to beat back the influence from this disingenuous environment. There have been breakthroughs for short periods of time, but eventually, we fell back under the control of a self-serving group again and again. Like the old saying goes, “You can bring a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink.”

The citizens of our community work hard to provide for their families. There’s usually little time left to get personally involved in town politics. These neighbors rely on the honesty and integrity of the people who do have the opportunity to run for office. Trust is the issue. What’s best for our community? Who is (are) the best person (s) to make that happen?

It is insulting when officers in the local party advertise that the best thing for our citizens to do is to believe that the party’s recommendations are the most qualified and not investigate the other candidates’ capabilities, especially in local nonpartisan elections. Their mantra is ‘Vote the Party’ rather than the candidate.

It will be years before our community can recover from recent administrations and their self-serving leadership. This is very sad for me because I still think Front Royal could become the shining star example of one of the best small Virginia towns where to live and prosper. Instead, our community is the brunt of jokes as we continue to make negative national news coverage due to our community’s leadership and their shenanigans. Let’s hope this November will be different with new leadership and a new attitude. It’s time for a change but I hope that we just don’t continue to elect the same group of endorsed partisan people.

Let’s vote for Front Royal instead of the party.

Michael Graham
Front Royal