Losing to Win

This year it is to the advantage of the Hillsborough Republicans to lose the campaign for the one contested township committee seat.

The only township committee incumbent running for re-election is also the only Democratic on the committee. If he loses, the committee will no longer be two-party and any political consultant worth his salt knows that it’s to the majority party’s benefit to keep at least one minority member on board.

It’s important for the majority party to be able to claim that our committee is representative of all the people because it has members from both parties - that the two-party system works.

Additionally, when something goes wrong (that is to say, makes the voters unhappy for one reason or another) it always helps to have a member of the other party to share the blame. When something goes seriously wrong, the minority member can always be used as a scapegoat. And, conversely, when the minority member does something spectacularly outstanding, the entire committee can take the credit.

Also, the township committee’s current Democratic member has specialized planning knowledge and contacts that would cost the township a lot of money if we had to hire a consultant with the same background.

In the long run the Republicans should lose this one for Hillsborough to come out ahead.

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“More important than winning the election is governing the nation.” – Adlai Stevenson, July 26, 1952

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“[Social inertia] is often observed in politics, when people consistently vote for one candidate or party out of habit, regardless of whether or not they actually would benefit from that vote.” – Wikipedia.com