Last time I described what I generally look for in candidates for local office, focusing on qualities more than issues. I also promised my readers a list of things candidates can do or say to encourage me to vote for someone else. That's today's topic.

I recently held forth on the weeks or months potential candidates spend considering whether to run or not. This early phase of our electoral process is below the radar for most offices, but it's as important as anything in our politics. We must get the right kind of people on the ballot, so we can vote for them. Today's topic is how to recognize them once they're on the ballot.

A billboard I passed on the freeway the other day urged me to live the American Dream, but the dream it offered was not the real one.

Election days are important in our democratic republic, and so are the campaigns which precede them. But one of the most crucial phases in our self-government comes much earlier. It ends with the filing period, but it begins long before.

Presidents Day was earlier this week. It's almost March, and I haven't blogged since Veterans Day, November 11, 2010. Am I still a blogger? I hope so. I like a blogger, but I'll understand if you're inclined to wonder what I've done for you lately, and if your answer is, nothing whatsoever.

Many military veterans deserve more praise and gratitude than they have ever received. The late Sergeant John Scott Pinney is among them. Veterans Day seems like an appropriate time to tell you his story.

It's hard to believe something which makes us so uncomfortable is a good thing, but it really is.

Here are some words I don't say every decade: I'm voting for a Democrat.

This blog post is rated PG, because talking about New York politics involves adult themes. You've been warned.

Today's word is socialism. We'll talk about it and its role in the present debate over the Alpine School District's official mission, goals, and values.