Party intrusion into local races outrageous

ARE YOU SICK of the polarization that has poisoned our national politics? We are. Are you fed up with the fact that no matter who the president of the United States is, half the nation seems to hate him and oppose whatever he does? We are. Do you find it disgusting that we can’t even choose a Supreme Court justice — a member of the nonpolitical branch of government — without a take-no-prisoners ideological battle? We do. Are you appalled that Washington-style partisanship now infests our State House? We certainly are.

Fortunately, there remain islands of sanity at the most local of levels in South Carolina: city councils and school boards. Those offices still attract sensible people who have no interest in partisan games — the very kind of pragmatic public servants you want running your police department and teaching your children.

Now, for no good reason whatsoever, the Richland County Republican Party has decided that it will take those precious few remaining public offices that remain free of partisan taint and drag them through the same mire that makes doing the people’s business such an ugly spectacle in Washington.

The party is not trying to change the rules that keep these offices nonpartisan. No, it has taken it upon itself to reverse that, not bothering to consult with anyone who might disagree.

In other words, it has decided to hijack the political process. To say this is an outrage is to put too heavy a burden upon that poor, inadequate word.

The party has already formed a committee to screen and endorse candidates for school boards and Columbia City Council. Those candidates receiving the party’s imprimatur will receive material help — not money, but hundreds of volunteers and get-out-the-vote resources.

Democrats (for now) say they don’t want to play. But the Republicans can force the process to become partisan all by themselves. The GOP would force every candidate to choose among three options: Seek the party’s endorsement and get the kind of overwhelming campaign support that other candidates can’t muster; remain independent and know that you will have to run against such a juggernaut; or don’t run at all.

The most likely effect will be that the very people who ought to run for these essential local offices — the kind who want to serve the community and not a party — will refuse to run.

Republicans — as partisans do — might sneer at such arguments and say they just want to make sure that candidates who will do the majority’s will are elected in the capital city of this Republican state. That ignores a salient fact: Richland County generally votes Democratic (choosing John Kerry for president and Inez Tenenbaum for U.S. Senate in 2004). If the GOP elects majorities to these bodies, that will likely not reflect the political proclivities of the majority of voters.

That will force the Democratic Party to retaliate, and the Columbia City Council and Richland school boards will start to look like — well, like Richland County Council, which has spent much of the last 15 years fighting over reapportionment (and the rest of the time seething over the results). And ultimately, as on county council, the Democrats will likely prevail. Republicans are counting on their superior organization to frustrate that majority. But either way, the public would lose.

We implore the local GOP to stop this madness. Please, stick to the offices that are already polluted by partisanship, and leave the schools and police department alone.