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Opinion: Whatever your party affiliation, elect my husband to Canton Town Council

Posted 10/14/21

To the Editor: My husband loves his family, his community, and his country. He is running for Canton Town Council on the Republican and Conservative lines of the ballot. He is married to me, a …

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Opinion: Whatever your party affiliation, elect my husband to Canton Town Council

Posted

To the Editor:

My husband loves his family, his community, and his country. He is running for Canton Town Council on the Republican and Conservative lines of the ballot. He is married to me, a registered Democrat.

I was born the day after President Kennedy was assassinated, grew up on the myth of Camelot, and in 1982 cast my first vote in an off-year election for my Democrat mother who was elected to the Hopkinton Town Board. My husband registered as a Republican in 1980 to vote for the larger than life, optimistic, patriotic Ronald Reagan. Over the years that we have known each other - our entire adult lives - we have agreed and disagreed on political issues, but especially at the local level, often voted for the same candidates who supported our values and dreams for our family, community, and country.

On occasion, one or both of us abstained from voting for any candidate for a given office because we couldn’t find one who was worthy of our vote. We have never considered changing our individual party affiliations because we like having both our voices heard at primary/caucus time and because we know that we don’t change an organization by leaving it; we change it by staying and making our voices heard.

When my husband was approached to run for office, I encouraged him to take that opportunity to work for this town he has lived in and loved his whole life. When I found my Democrat-self by his side at North Country events sponsored by Republicans and Conservatives, I was there with an open mind, and while I questioned some of what I heard, I found myself surrounded by people who love this country and the North Country exactly the same way that we do.

When it comes to local office, the lines of party politics can be fuzzy. Members of local government have the power to effect change for the people they have grown up with, raised families with, and count on day to day. In a small town, every person serves every other person in whatever roles we find ourselves. To do this effectively, we must want to know each other. Sometimes what makes sense at the national level just won’t work in a small town where resources and issues vary greatly. In our own state, this is glaringly obvious when we note that what works in “The City” just doesn’t work in our small towns.

If you have spent any amount of time with me these past years, you may have heard me say that one question I ask when I prepare to cast my vote is this: would I trust this person to care for my children and my home? Because ultimately, that is what we are doing. At the local level, this is an even stronger truth. So, whatever your party affiliation, when you cast your vote in November, I hope that you will ask yourself the same question - or whatever question makes sense to you - and decide to vote for John Taillon.

Tina B. Taillon
Canton