Whitewater, like other cities in Wisconsin, will hold local elections on Tuesday, April 2nd. Even in difficult times, this state and this country has carried on, and properly so, with local elections.
In Whitewater, residents of the city will vote for council members, school board members, and for the city’s next municipal judge. Those races matter, to the city and (surely) to the candidates contesting for them.
For today, a reminder – although one should not be needed – about the context of these local elections. Some Whitewater residents may have heard that discussion of local races should be confined to state or regional matters, or that the absence of local news increases partisanship.
Nothing could be worse for a people – and in a diverse city most of all – than to set aside from discussion the extraordinary national conflict that grips America. In matters of economic policy, immigration, and foreign affairs there are disputes that should not – and morally cannot – be ignored. Each of the issues in this national conflict has a local impact. America has millions of partisans in opposition and resistance; she would benefit from still more.
Perhaps someone living in Italy in 1925 might wish to talk only of local matters, but a man or woman so inclined would do so only by slighting threats that reached even the most remote Italian cities.
This truth, however, does not prevent any local consideration.
Over these next few days, I’ll offer a few remarks on the elections in this small city, contest by contest.