Your Arlington, your views

Bob (the site owner) requested I cross-copy my summary view of the candidates night, from the Town Mailing list, to this blog. I wrote it in response to request for an “objective report”.

I cannot do that objectively. Perhaps a subjective view will
suffice.

My political views - in any other state I’d be a liberal, but in
this one I am apparently moderate/liberal.

The candidates all dressed nicely, abided by the rules, and with
very few exceptions kept a stone-face while listening to the
other candidates speak. Very professional. The moderator was
excellent, and the hall overheated but quiet.

I went in with a strong preference ranging to a certainty that
I would be voting for Mr Garballey. I did not leave the way
I came in.

A subjective review of each candidate.

Mr Worden is running unopposed as the sole Republican for this
seat. He need not worry about February 5, only the final election.
Given how the district tends to lean, and the fact that the
Democratic party will most likely provide a solid contender,
I think his prospects dim: regardless of who he is, and what he
says, unless he were a closet Democrat. He’s not. He is soft-spoken,
albeit rambling a bit, clearly a MA-Republican. However, I was
stunned by his curt refusal to answer some of the audience
questions, dismissing them as sole-issue litmus tests. Perhaps
he has a dim view of those: but his refusal to answer to polite
constituencies really surprised me. Personally: his views
are such that I cannot vote for him, but his charm and intellect
are such that I look forward to hearing from him in other
venues.

Mr Valeri, Independent: he is a charming and honest businessman,
with zero political experience. He consistently answered
several questions with both a personal view and a promise
to go against his own views if that is what his constituency
desires. Alas, most of his personal views seemed to be
counter to my own, and what I feel are the sort of bedrock
Democratic values that many locals seem to share. I don’t
think I can, personally, vote for the man - but I’d love to
learn more about him, and see him enter the local political
process at a lower level than Representative.

Mr O’Brian, Democrat. A nice fellow, horribly unfocused
and lacking. I can’t vote for him.

Mr Garballey. I went in thinking he had a lock on my vote.
He is every bit as good as my friends who know him, and
support him, say he is. He had one or two “weaker” answers,
but most of his answers were strong, thoughtful, knowledgeable
and aligned with the rather liberal tune of the district.
He is a formidable candidate.

Mr Thielman. If all I knew of him was last evening, I’d probably
vote for him. Solid on the issues, appropriately humorous, he
had a great way of presenting his work and his background.
He alluded to the troubles of this summer in an appropriate
way - but he was not called upon to answer them with an
audience question, and did not choose to bring it up during
his opening or closing remarks, wisely. Also a formidable candidate.

If your mind was already made up before you went in, you
weren’t going to have your mind changed. If you were open
to the discussion, it is my guess that here is what
happened: if you are conservatively inclined you are not
finding an independent threat to Mr Worden. If you are
more moderate you may be leaning toward Mr Thielman or
Garballey - the difference between them is on the margins:
did you like one’s answer to 40B reform better than
the other, did you like one’s answer to abortion rights
more than the other? They hold the same positions,
pretty much.

I look forward, frankly, to a week of Mr Thielman and Mr
Garballey showing the differences between them - which
are small in policy, and a matter of degrees in style
and the ability to convince. One of them will face
Mr Worden in the final election, and one of them will
be the next Representative - given the district
demographics.

At this point, I’ll be satisfied with either. I’ll
have to choose one to vote for, and I will: dunno
which.

A very worthwhile evening.

Mark Schuldenfrei