Politics raises its ugly head

Even in idyllic Westcliffe, it is political season, and we have a hotly contested race for the two open county commissioner positions. They've been debating each other by way of political ads in our local weekly, The Wet Mountain Valley Tribune. I read our local paper front to back, and have learned a lot about the valley and the issues, but there are often significant holes in the coverage (why I'm not sure). For example, when the county held caucases earlier this summer, a volley of letters appeared in the 'Letters to the Editor' accusing certain Democrats (a lonely breed in this county) of changing parties for the caucus in a highly organized fashion in order to keep certain Republicans from getting on the primary ballot. Nowhere else in the paper was this controversy addressed - not in news stories about the caucus nor in the editorial column. Strange, thought I. I went to a political BBQ the other night, partly to learn more about the candidates involved, and partly to see whether their supporters were anyone I wanted to be associated with. As it turned out, I could answer the latter question in the affirmative. Talking with them, it appeared that they held similar values to my own.The big issue in this election will be to decide who is better equipped to make balanced decisions about 'smart growth' in this county. Of course, whenever any politician talks about growth, it is always 'smart growth' that he claims to be a proponent of. Finding out what he means by that - exactly - is never any easy task.