I’ve said that there’s little local difference between liberals and conservatives in Whitewater.
I’m sure it’s true — conservative support for markets is slight here, with so many on the right looking for government intervention for their favored projects. Progressive support for rights and equal treatment — something opportunity conservatives support just as much — fades away at the local level, and so many look away from obvious abuses that their national heroes would never tolerate.
It’s incumbency, all the way down, here.
Fitting in comes at the price of lost principle.
Over at Reason.tv, there’s a funny video about how many conservatives and progressive agree on a national matters — there’s not all that much support for a robust Bill of Rights. (What would some town squires, politicians, and bureaucrats here like to do without? I’d say the First and Fourth amendments, probably.)