Nohe: We deserve better than the ‘Silly Season’

There is a thing in politics called the “Silly Season.” It is the time when campaigning politicians do whatever they can to get voters’ attention, usually through frivolous and outlandish exploits.

This used to occur only in the last weeks of an election, like an “October Surprise.” But over time the Silly Season stretched to a few months. Now, two years from election day, politicians have cemented themselves in the Silly Season.

This extension of the Silly Season is due in large part to a combination of factors. First is the proliferation of shock-jock politicians who have commoditized outrage and run for office to be someone instead of to do something. Second is the sports rivalry fervor that now passes as political awareness, wherein a decision is judged by its origin instead of its merit. Finally, and this seems to be the most prolific in our county of late, it is caused by a lust for advancement among the current class of elected officials.

Why do so many elected officials in Prince William County view their seat, no matter how briefly they have held it, as a springboard to bigger and better offices? Is there something about serving this constituency that makes elected officials think, “I love being an elected official, but I think I can do better than Prince William?”

When things don’t work out for these would-be electoral climbers (because let’s face facts, they rarely win), why do Prince William voters allow themselves to be someone’s second choice back-up by taking back these ambitious politicians only to be shocked when they reach again for higher office?

In the past several years, so many Prince William elected officials have run for a higher office that it is difficult to keep count, and this year is no different. Every day there seems to be another announcement about how someone has decided that their current position is no longer a good fit for their abundant talents, and they are going to be running for Congress, governor or senator.

We cannot improve our county if our elected officials are more focused on their next big move than on the business of the people who elected them. We won’t have a functioning government, but rather a never-ending campaign in which every vote or decision is viewed through the prism of how it will be seen by voters, all too often voters outside of Prince William, instead of how it will affect the people who live here.

Unfortunately, this phenomenon is not just evident among those who wish to advance to higher office in this year’s election, but it also pertains to our local elections – still almost two years away.

The current Board of County Supervisors and School Board are already halfway through their terms. Inevitably, elected officials start focusing on things pertinent to their re-election: shoring up their base, making a show of fighting with members of the opposite party, and focusing on politics instead of progress. Due to this realignment of priorities, most of what these boards are going to accomplish is behind them. Troubling, but true.

The antidote to the Silly Season is an engaged citizenry, one that reads local newspapers instead of political newsletters, looks beyond the rhetoric for the real issues, and always asks a follow-up question because that is where the truth hides. The Silly Season is filled with razzle-dazzle, but these are serious times requiring serious people focused on the job they have and not the job they want. The people of Prince William deserve no less.

Kristina Nohe is a political activist, adoption advocate and homeschooling mom who is proud to be from Prince William County.