If you like Donald Trump, you will love Randy Sparacino.
Randy Sparacino is a Republican candidate for Jackson County commissioner. Currently the office is partisan.
It should be nonpartisan.
The placement of "field signs," those four-by-eight sheets of plywood on arterial streets, tell an unmistakable story of political affiliation. The signs in the photos below are placed on Biddle Road opposite the Rogue Valley International Airport, a county-owned facility.
Opponents of the ballot measure that would make the county commissioner job nonpartisan have only a single sentence explaining their reasoning at their website:
"Nonpartisan status decreases transparency, allowing candidates to hide their political beliefs and intent during campaigns."
I agree with that statement. Party labels do give voters a snapshot of the political associations of a candidate. Voters see a party label and make deductions.
My own sense is that this is a net-negative, a reason not to have partisanship. I prefer local candidates for offices that have negligible relationship to state and national issues be nonpartisan. I prefer that campaigns reveal the individual brand of the candidate established around discussion of local issues. I would prefer that local campaigns not involve us in the fights that consume Washington, D.C.
Partisanship has advantages, though. It gives a candidate instant friends and an institution for raising money and getting one's name in front of the public. That comes with a price, the "transparency" of being attached to a nationally-known brand, with all its warts and wrinkles. Trump's brand eclipses everything. It bleeds out onto the people sharing his party label. Sparacino is being transparent. He stands with Trump.
In the back is a sign for Alyssa Bartholomew, a woman running for the nonpartisan district attorney office. She is running a "whisper-Republican" campaign, with signs clustered among GOP candidates. I believe that this will hurt her election chances. People do not want a district attorney to be wearing a partisan jersey. We want crime prosecution to reflect fairness and even-handedness. She should not be a Republican DA. She should be the DA representing the whole of the people. The more she continues her whisper campaign in association with a party, the worse for her. But Bartholomew and Sparacino have made their choices and will need to live with the consequences.
This one is off Foothills Road, inside Medford.
I think Sparacino would be a more electable candidate, and a better commissioner if elected, if he didn't associate himself with Trump. Sparacino had a long career in law enforcement. That implies to voters that he respects district attorneys and judges, that he cares about law and order, and that he would not appreciate tirades of the kind Trump is now publishing daily. Trump organized fake electors and his campaign lawyers urged them to swear falsely that they were "duly elected." He summoned Proud Boys to the Capitol to intimidate the Congress and vice president. He praises Capitol rioters. I realize that that was Trump, not Sparacino, but Sparacino's signs share the field with Trump's, publicly linking them. It is transparent who he is comfortable with.
"If you like Donald Trump, you will love Randy Sparacino," is the downside of partisan transparency. If Sparacino were smart, he would never allow his signs to be placed adjacent to a Trump sign. I have given Sparacino campaign advice in the past when he ran for state Senate, and he ignored it. He spent $1.1 million of Republican donors’ money persuading people he was the wrong person for the job. It was crazy. I suggested he reverse course. He ignored me and lost an easily-winnable race. Once again he is letting his political party manage his reputation. So here we are: Sparacino linked to Trump. Trump linked to Sparacino. I don't expect him to take my advice today, either. Call me Cassandra.
What is Sparacino's actual, deep-down "intent and belief?" Who knows? But he has signs next to Trump's, so we draw our conclusions.
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5 comments:
People used to complain "there was no difference" between the parties which, besides displaying a lack of understanding about how politics actually works, gave them an excuse to not vote which ultimately benefits tyranny.
No so much now...there is a touch of irony in that it's Democrats who are now advocating for non-partisanship.
Do you think that Denise Krause is a Joe Biden supporter, and when the general election comes in November, do you think that you'll find Denise Krause for Commissioner campaign signs mixed with signs for Pam Marsh and Joe Biden? They all play for the same team.
As for Sparacino, he's not a conservative. He's a RINO uniparty member, as are every other candidate endorsed by the Chamber of Commerce. If you are endorsed by the Chamber, then you have to run as a Republican even if you are liberal, and a great example of that is Jessica Gomez, who is as liberal as Jeff Golden, and yet she ran as a Republican. Chamber candidates are not conservatives. They stand for nothing but the Chamber of Commerce. Sparacino was an absolute failure as Mayor and police chief. What makes people think he'll be a good commissioner?
Trump’s pathological lying and criminality are well documented. I would trust politicians that want their name associated with his about as much as I trust Trump. Maybe someday people will get a clue.
I've never asked Denise how she votes or how she's registered, but I will be out putting up some large signs for her as soon as they're ready.
I agree with Ed Cooper. Denise has a rare gift to reach across the isle. She sticks to wanting to address our local issues. When I was collecting signatures to help put the three measures on the ballot, I heard time after time how sick people are of national politics of division playing out locally. The opposition stated that they need to keep a stronghold on our commission. Their huge signs warn of big government and of Portland being imported. These signs are intended to scare the voters -the libs are taking over our county, boo! Come to Jacksonville Library tonight to attend a town hall and learn the facts about the measures. Don't let the badly designed, hard to read signs placed between giant Trump, Bentz and Sparacino's signs scare you. Vote YES for all three measures!
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