What I really want from candidates who come knocking on my door

The battle of the campaign signs is well underway, with city or town candidates trying to win my vote based almost exclusively on name recognition alone. 

Many signs won’t even tell me which party the candidate represents.

And the issues? When I see a sign that fails to list a campaign website to get information about where the candidate stands, I see a politician who’s not anxious to publicize his or her views.

Candidate forums, including recent events featuring candidates for attorney general and lieutenant governor, should help. But all too often the organizers of community gatherings that focus on local candidates waste time letting those candidates drone on about how much they love their community, how they have lived here since the Stone Age, how they “want to make a difference,” how they want to lower my taxes, and how they want to cut wasteful spending, even though they can’t really think of any good examples right now.

Candidacy announcements published in the newspaper often have the same flaw.

There’s little to separate the statesmen (or stateswomen) from the simpletons.

And so, dear candidate, when you show up at my door asking for my vote, please tell me:

• What is the most important issue on which you disagree with your opponent and what would you do differently?

I want to know if you’ve done your research or if you’re running for office just because you’re looking for something to get you out of the house. For all you know, your opponent might be an even better choice. 

Also tell me (preferably briefly):

• Would you support or oppose an Artificial Intelligence data center in town?
• Do you support or oppose the use of Flock surveillance cameras in town?
• Can you name one thing you would do to make life easier for local businesses? (Saying “cutting red tape” is too vague to count as an answer.)
• Are ICE arrests and deportations being handled properly or improperly?
• Do you support or oppose posting a copy of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom?
• Should trans women be allowed to play on a woman’s sports team?
• Do you approve or disapprove of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade?
• Who won the 2020 Presidential election – Donald Trump or Joe Biden?
• Do you approve or disapprove of President Trump’s decision to pardon all the people convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, incident?

You might argue that you’re only running for the town council or school committee, and that questions about human rights, religious freedom, the rule of law, presidential politics, and living in an alternate reality are unlikely to arise. 

But giving voters insight into how you view the national hot-button topics will give me quick and easy insight into how you approach controversies, whether you are well informed, whether you share my values, and whether I want to put you in charge of making policies that will seriously affect my life, and the lives of those I care for.

At the very least, use your sign to point me to a website that gives me more than platitudes.

I’m not going to agree with every opinion you have. But what I really want is smart, thoughtful leadership. Not signs and slogans.