Yes, this is the title of a great book by Tip O’Neill. My uncle actually got me the book as a high school graduation gift waaaay back in the early aughts (oh the early 2000s…How is it that you were so long ago already?!). I read through the book at a lightning pace; it was short, which helped, and I was also extremely interested in it all, especially after being in AP US History during the great debacle of the 2000 election (W. versus Gore…hanging chads…SCOTUS being brought into the whole thing…). All these years later, I still think about this book, and especially the phrase.

All politics is local…it is so important and true. Yes, there is a ton of stuff that goes on in Washington, D.C.; a circus, if you ask me. When it comes to politics, the majority of people out there put the weight of it to the federal government. Now, I am a strict Constitutionalist; if it is not enumerated in the Constitution, it is illegal, and don’t get me started on the powers of the government. I’m all for reducing the size of government, getting rid of the different departments (Education just needs to go; government involvement is not doing anything to help us, same with the Federal Reserve, let’s get back to the gold standard, my friends), and putting the power (and the majority of the laws) back in the hands of the people at the local community and state levels. Currently, the focus is on President Trump, impeachment, Nancy Pelosi tearing up her copy of his speech, and the ridiculousness that was the Iowa Caucus.

First off, let’s take a look at the Caucuses. I’ve never understood how this works, or how the whole Democratic Presidential Nomination process works. Superdelegates who just get to pick and choose which delegate to back at the Convention, regardless of how their states actually voted? Seems pretty shady to me, and defeats the purpose of the electorate (the people) going out and voicing their preference. This year, the Caucuses are still waiting to declare the final results due to…wait for it…technological issues!!! Colour me shocked. The Iowa Democratic Party decided to use a brand new app, without testing it, to take care of the tallying this year. Hmm…For a group that keeps claiming election interference, Russian collusion and hacking, etc., they sure as hell did not cover their bases with this. There is a reason I have always ever voted with a paper ballot – no way for anyone to “hack” it. I had to use the electronic voting machine last year when I did my early voting, and I saw my votes actually change to a different person several times as I was making my choices. I called it out, asked for a paper ballot (they had none…GRRRRRR), and ended up going to a different machine while that one was re-calibrated.

Secondly, Impeachment and the Donald, the Cheeto in Chief, the Orange One. From the day Donald Trump announced his candidacy, there have been whispers about his qualifications to serve (not a politician; that’s a win in my book), his draft dodging (he’s not the only one out there to get out of it), his orange-ness (the man REALLY needs to lay off the self-tanner), his connections to politicians (I’ve seen him chummy with legislators on both sides of the aisle). I actually thought it was all a joke, and he would either pull out right before Election Day 2016, or he was just a pawn there to really swing things so that Killary (sorry, Hillary) would get elected. I had no thought that we would ever have a President Trump. Boy, was I surprised when I woke up that Wednesday morning to see that he was declared the winner. Whelp, I definitely didn’t think I would see that happen. But then, the whispers got louder, and the process of Impeachment, investigations, the constant undermining, the leaking, it all began. Seriously? I could not stand Obama; I didn’t vote for him to be a U.S. Senator for Illinois because I a., didn’t agree with anything on his platform, and b., I didn’t see anything that he actually did when he was in Illinois. I definitely didn’t vote for him to be President. Yes, my friends and I joked about moving to Australia, The Czech Republic (they have some pretty decent firearm laws), anywhere other than the States, but we just sat back, knowing we had 4 or 8 years until the next person came in to the Presidential seat.

What did I do over those 8 years? I increased my activity at home. I paid attention to the bills being brought up in front of the Illinois legislature. I attended events local to me where my state legislators were. I made phone calls and sent e-mails to let them know if I was extremely supportive of, or against, the legislation they were considering. I did this at a national level as well, but my focus was on Illinois and the town/county I lived in. My FIL thought we were nuts, because we knew of everything that was happening that directly affected us (mostly increased taxes; soooo glad we left that ridiculousness), but we were not paying attention to what was happening in D.C. Well, that’s because what happens at the state and local level truly affect us.

I have voted in every election since I turned 18, and I mean every election, specials and primaries included. This is because I know that if I want to change my serving legislators, I have to show them that I support them or want them gone; this is done through voting. I am a big fan of primary-ing legislators that are not performing to my standards. Now, my voting against them does not always work, especially if there is not another person on the ballot, but a write-in, or just leaving it blank is another way to let it be known they did not get all of the votes that were out there.

Nationally, yes, I pay attention to what is going on. It does not help if the people are that stupid and uneducated so as to not know what is going on. Do I know that the State of the Union was last night? I sure do, but I don’t know what was said. I do know, thanks to the news clips and memes running rampant out there, that Trump did not shake Nancy Pelosi’s hand, and that she proceeded to tear up what I am assuming is a copy of his speech at the end of it all. Truly, I was just disappointed to miss RBG sleeping during it all. Stay classy out there with the gloves and lace around your collar, girl. (Note, RBG is NOT my current favourite SCOTUS justice. I’m still grieving the loss of Scalia, but Clarence Thomas is definitely up there in my rankings).

Do I think that this whole impeachment thing is a sham? Absolutely. Donald Trump is not the first president to ask a foreign government to make an investigation. He is not the first to withhold foreign aid (I don’t think we should be giving out foreign aid at all. Let’s stop that and we can {GASP} cut back on the taxes that we have to pay because we are not financing the rest of the damn world!). Is he boisterous, rambunctious, difficult to control? Absolutely. Does this mean that is should not be President? Nope. Does this scare the establishment, most of whom have been serving in Congress for 20+ years? It sure as hell does. And you know what? Instead of pointing the finger and placing the blame for all the problems on the guy who has been in the White House for 3 years, I’m looking at the legacy lawmakers, who have not done anything to make things better.

So, am I voting in the special primary election here in Wisconsin on the 18th to select a candidate for the seat vacated by Duffy? I sure am. Do I know who I’m voting for yet? Nope…still working on that one. Am I paying attention to the local issues, and making myself aware of what will be on the ballot that will affect my day-to-day life? Definitely. And you know what? You should, too.