The election results are in and presumably my precinct eventually got around to counting my ballot and those of others whose votes would not scan in timely fashion. Now, what have we learned?
Foremost in the election aftermath is the reaffirmation that the electorate continues to be satisfied with our sad state of affairs in Greater Johnstown and Cambria County in general, and so keeps putting in the same people, or other names operating under the puppetry of the usual area elites.
I voted for plenty of candidates who didn’t win, and a few that did. Mostly this did not surprise me.
As a youth in the area, I remember an executive of Bethlehem Steel, commenting on the company’s future plans for Johnstown, saying something to the effect “expect the worst and you never will be disappointed.”
That’s one reason why, when my dad called seeking my counsel about retiring early from Bethlehem Steel by taking a company buyout offer, I strongly urged him to take the money and run. He did, and got 10 years of retirement before his death, instead of the four years or so had he retired at normal retirement age.
His experience encouraged me to save and invest and, when the newspaper business, the steel industry of the 2000s, provided me a buyout offer in early 2009, I grabbed it eagerly at the ripe, old age of 53 ½ years. No regrets.
I have done various things since, including working for a short time at a group home, and doing seasonal work with health insurance as a licensed agent.
Also there was some freelance writing for the Tribune-Democrat, and now I spend my own money to keep the power on for this blog, just because I like to write and comment free of the restrictions of others.
It is a great opportunity to provide unsolicited advice to others and I would direct some of that to John DeBartola and Joseph Taranto, the guys I voted for in the Cambria County commissioner race.
Since you two have shown a willingness to bang your heads against the metaphorical wall of establishment resistance, keep doing it. Sometimes, the wall eventually breaks.
I recall a conversation on my porch with Jim Rigby, who was tiring of running and losing. But he kept trying, and eventually won.
DeBartola and Taranto will have a tougher time, because as noted in a previous blog post, they most likely will find themselves running as Republicans, but without Republican establishment support. The sad fact of American political life is, with the exception of Donald Trump or Ron DeSantis, Republicans are mostly Democratic-lite products.
These RINO Republicans run in fear of alienating the so-called “swing” or “undecided” voters they perceive as vital to their election. I love it when, days ahead of any election, a large percentage of the population has yet to make up its mind. Really? It just smacks of a desperate ploy for attention.
Republican leadership tries to help shepherd “electable” (read: lacking in commitment to supposed Republican principles) candidates to the general election, hoping they win by not offending anybody.
Forget the swing types and appeal to the base. Be true to that base, energize it with enthusiasm, and you might surprise yourselves and others.
DeBartola and Taranto, should they decide they are running again for county office, need to get started earlier building a ground game.
Facebook is fine as far as it goes, but it won’t push you over the finish line in first place. Getting out and talking to people. Somehow raising money to advertise and place those annoying, but somehow effective yard signs, is a must.
Finding ways to obtain more media exposure – radio, television, print – without necessarily paying for it is vital, too. Trump was and is the master of this. CNN just gave him a huge bit of exposure with a televised Town Hall and he took over the show.
The DeBartola-Taranto message of transparency, accountability, economic effort beyond the silly tourism push, should and could be a winner, especially if the economy should head south even further before the next election.
But this pair of outsider candidates must understand that the electorate is quite lazy. Like the proverbial mule, you need to hit them over the head with a 2-by-4 (figuratively speaking, of course) just to get their attention.
If you can get them to hear your message, you just might win their votes.
Sam Ross Jr's site 