Policy Blog

Those who practice the art of political battle are some of the most talented people among our population. Notice, I didn’t say the most likeable, handsome, or well spoken. Simply put, those who engage in political battle manage to get their jobs done quietly, without drawing much attention to themselves. These people are so skilled at what they do, that the general population rarely realizes that a handful of politicians have changed the course of history without alerting them.

For example, a small group of local business folks recently defeated the city’s attempt to install parking meters in their business district. They went about it in such a way that even the daily newspaper reported the wrong story. Yes, the facts of the story were entirely correct: the district, when faced with the possibility of being metered, made the deal that they would swap unmetered on street parking for a ramp the city couldn’t afford. As a result, the city officially rescinded its intent to meter their area until a commission could study the matter. What really mattered, in this case, was the postponement of metering until the city’s budget crisis passed, which, in effect, would mean that no meters would be installed after all.

This brings me to my point: if you can make the issue about something else until political climate changes, you will have defended your turf. That is what all good politicians do.