You who are old, and
have fought the fight,
And have won or lost or left the fight,
Weigh us not down with fears of the world,
As we run!
— Cale Young Rice
I memorized this quote a long time ago, seems to me it was when I
was young, about to become a taxpayer activist. Or maybe it was when
I started to become cynical about politics, and reminding myself not
to pass that on to younger activists. It came to mind on Friday
evening.
I was at a “Special
Election Countdown to Victory Reception” in Peabody for Leah Cole, a
young woman who is running for state representative in Tuesday’s
election, in the 12th Essex District recently represented by Joyce
Spiliotis.
Citizens for Limited
Taxation’s Proposition 2½ PAC has endorsed Cole as the best choice
for taxpayers, but I wouldn’t usually get personally involved in a
legislative district other than my own. However, I don’t like the
way she’s been dismissed as if she’s a freckle on the nose of the
political complexion.
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Leah Cole |
It’s been noted that
there is much excitement about “a competitive race in Peabody Wards
1-4 and part of Ward 5” between a Democrat school committeewoman and
a city councilor who is running as an independent but has pledged to
caucus with the Democrats on Beacon Hill.
Just what we need, more
Democrats on Beacon Hill. I thought Democrats were into “a balanced
approach” and “fairness,” not to mention more women in elected
office. The candidacy of one young woman is dismissed, as nearly as
I can tell, only because she is young, and a Republican. This made
me angry, so let me dismiss both those excuses for not supporting
her.
Young. Yes, Leah Cole
is 24 years old. Some of the people crowded into her reception
Friday evening were younger than that. Many 20-somethings, like
Salem’s Sean O’Brien, had become involved with the recent
congressional campaign of Richard Tisei — who had just graduated
from college when he won his first campaign for legislator,
representing Wakefield.
I ran into old friends
from that town whose young son, Evan Kenney, is running for School
Committee in Wakefield this year. He’s been encouraged by Republican
activist Brad Wyatt, who, inspired by Ron Paul, has been working on
getting “Liberty Kids” to run for local office. He was at the Cole
event all the way from Worcester, where he is encouraging another
young woman to run for the seat precariously held by John Fresolo
(D-Worcester, 49 years old), who is currently the object of an
internal House ethics investigation.
One of the taxpayers’
best allies on Beacon Hill was Peter Forman (R-Plymouth), who also
ran immediately after graduating from college and later became House
minority leader. Back to our local area, remember Peter Torkildsen?
He was 26 in 1984 when he ran for state representative in the 13th
Essex District (parts of Danvers and Peabody), beat the powerful
House Majority Leader Jack Murphy, later became our congressman.
Sen. Bruce Tarr was at
the Cole event; he still doesn’t look much older than when he first
ran, at 26.
So Leah Cole’s youth
should not be a liability. We might not want all 160 House members
to be young, but one or two ... well, let’s celebrate diversity! You
may also be a Democrat who doesn’t want a Republican majority, but
any politically aware observer should recognize that more balance in
the Legislature would be a good thing for the commonwealth.
There is a new brand of
Republican making its move across the nation, focused like Peabody’s
young nurse on fiscal responsibility, creating jobs, bringing
transparency, accountability and a fresh voice to the halls of state
legislatures.
My partner, Chip Ford,
was a New Hampshire driver for Ron Paul when Paul first ran for
president as a Libertarian, and is still on his contact list. Last
month, he received a letter from Congressman Paul that began: “Brush
fires of liberty are springing up all across the country. And one of
those brush fires is burning right now in Massachusetts ... you can
be sure Leah will lead the fight to defeat the Boston
establishment’s tax hikes, massive spending increases and assaults
on liberty.” Dr. Paul endorsed her and urged his friends in
Massachusetts to support her campaign.
This is probably where
some of the “out-of-district money” that has helped fuel her
campaign came from; I just gave her $50 myself, to help create a
level playing field with the two better-known politicians in the
Peabody wards.
This part of the state
voted for Republicans Tisei and Charlie Baker, who enthusiastically
introduced Leah at the function I attended; he also noted the value
of encouraging young people to run and urged those in attendance to
each get 10 people to the polls on April 2.
Many Republicans didn’t
turn out for the special-election Republican primary between Cole
and Greg Bunn, maybe because they had no preference between two good
candidates. I hope they turn out in force on Tuesday — along with
independents and Democrats who believe in a two-party system — to
vote for Leah Cole, and prove that anyone who rudely dismissed her
was wrong.
