LETTER: In 2023, Don’t Vote for Laundry
December 22, 2022
Jerry Seinfeld had a term for blindly supporting sports franchises despite the quality or character of the players donning their uniform. He called it “rooting for laundry”.
Many people do the same thing with political candidates. They support the candidate claiming the same label as them, regardless of whether the candidate faithfully embodies that label.
I faced my personal laundromat moment this year when, as Treasurer of the Gainesville Democrats, I was appalled at the conduct of Democratic supervisors I saw as betraying the principles they professed. Democrats are supposed to support environmental responsibility and sustainable growth and safeguard the public from corporate exploitation. Yet here were people wearing my team colors doing precisely the opposite. When my constructive criticism was rebuffed, I turned in my uniform.
My principles haven’t changed, but I am a lot more wary about the reliability of labels. Politics is like any consumer choice. You have to kick the tires and look beyond the slick, often deceptive, packaging. Will your candidate serve you, or use your support to serve themselves? We’ve all been burned before.
Be especially skeptical of political chameleons like Ann Wheeler who graduated from the Bull Run Republican Women’s Club to masquerade as a pseudo-progressive because it suited her personal ambition. Such opportunists will don whatever label is necessary to earn your trust, and then exploit it.
As we embark on the critical 2023 election cycle, it’s important that you choose your candidate based on character and commitment. Don’t vote for laundry.
Bill Wright
Gainesville
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