Is it? Really?
Former Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill Jr. is often credited with the saying “All Politics is Local”, though apparently,he didn’t originate it.
Many of the real issues facing people in our districts are in fact local. And yet, even those local matters are significantly affected by far away events. Arizonans’ cost of living has gone up (not just gas) since the Strait of Hormuz has been blocked. And the Federally directed appearance of ICE agents in our neighborhoods affects our sense of security.
What is it that people hear and see?
But perhaps an even bigger effect come from the nature of our information channels. Social media and traditional news streams are dominated by national and international events. That is what most people see, when they can look away from their busy lives at all. Local news is sparse, and the biggest outlets tend to focus on matters that are far from the major issues affecting their lives[1].
While a President threatening genocide abroad, trashing our scientific base at the national level, and attacking our democratic norms (to name just a few travesties) can’t be ignored, local politics is critical to our well-being. National and international matters are reflected so clearly there.
Our Republican-majority legislature certainly reflects the national picture. As noted in the Arizona Agenda this morning, “Even though 44% of the Legislature’s members are Democrats, last year only about 2% of bills that passed both chambers were sponsored by Democrats — a whopping total of 11 bills.” In other words, a significant fraction of the state’s voters is essentially unrepresented in the legislature’s output. This is similar to the inability of Congressional Democrats to further any of their agenda, despite the unpopularity of the current policies of the majority.
Consider volatile (and largely rising) gas prices. A normal response to that instability would be to encourage the transition from fossil fuels to renewable ones. And yet both the current Arizona Corporation Commission and the current state legislature show no interest in this.
And while education advocates have sought for years to raise our state’s position in any measure for academic results to at least the middle of the pack, the legislature is even balking at maintaining the status quo.
But change is possible
The turnover on the SRP Board, for instance, has shown that even a concerted effort by the influential Turning Point activists could be overcome. And we can hope that a grassroots voucher guardrails effort underway to put a citizen’s measure on the ballot can succeed. And most importantly, this year’s elections give the citizens an opportunity to change the legislature. The national mood can affect the local elections enough that red-leaning districts can turn blue this year. That’s not a given, but there is an extremely good chance for good candidates with effective campaigns (Deborah Howard and Kyle Clayton in LD27 come to mind).
Broadly publicized national and international events have huge effects on voters, so in that sense, politics is far from local. But in competitive elections, even smaller factors can be decisive. And those must be focused on grassroots action. Capable candidates working to move us forward, not backward, must connect with the voters, as much as possible.
That part of politics remains local. And it is essential.
[1] I’m so grateful for channels like the Arizona Agenda, which can provide great coverage of local and state matters. But we need more.
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Why is there no mention in the press about the gutting of the Forest Service and moving everything to do with our public lands to Utah? My son-in-law and I have been emailing about this. The following is part of my response, especially regarding Project 2025.
“Dems need to hammer home on the agencies that are gone or gutted that are “bread and butter” issues that the right and the left will recognize as a necessity in their lives. I doubt any of us are really aware just how much we rely on the feds to help us and manage our lives for the better.
The MAGAs seem to think they are self-reliant, but the dems need to examine in detail just how much nearly all of us rely on the government.
I don’t get why the governors and legislatures in all these Republican states aren’t just up in arms about this. They don’t get that dismantling these agencies and handing the responsibility back to them doesn’t mean that the feds will continue to fund those agencies by handing the money to the states to administer. The fed will keep whatever they can get and use it for military and ICE, etc.
Where the H are the Democrats?.
The Alt National Park Service is recruiting outfitters for their Save the Forest Service movement, the most recent is Allegheny Outfitters of PA. From their Facebook page:
“Allegheny Outfitters just joined the Save the Forest Service movement and they came prepared.
Their team sat down with a research forester who spent 36 years at the Irvine Forestry Sciences Lab in Pennsylvania’s only National Forest. What they wrote is one of the most detailed, grounded breakdowns of what we’re actually losing when these labs close.
Weekly precipitation data collected every Tuesday since 1978. Nearly a century of forest measurements. Tools that help foresters ask the right questions before a single tree gets cut. Gone.
They also put together phone scripts and talking points so you can contact your representatives right now. This is what showing up looks like.”
That makes good business sense as the country’s parks and forests along with those who enjoy them are their core clientele. Let’s hope more outfitter companies and corporations jump on board.