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March 07, 2005

Eminent Domain

Democrats looking for an issue in fast growing suburban counties should think long and hard about devising a platform centered on responsible growth, the cornerstone of which can be reigning in the abuses of eminent domain. The type of people that move to growing suburban and exurban areas generally start voting for Republicans out of the (I believe) misconception that they will see lower property taxes. The problem with this formulation is that many of these Republican local "leaders" pay for the low-tax environment by super-sizing county development, which then leads to overcrowding (and an unwillingness in many cases to address traffic issues by doing anything other than paving more of the county).

Once the county starts growing, residents start paying for the faith they put in the pro-growth at any cost commissioners and school board members. Opposition to eminent domain could be the cornerstone of a smart growth land policy for Democratic candidates running for local office in suburban and exurban areas, and their counterparts on school boards could combine that sensibility with an opposition to evolution warning sticker type politics that isn't popular in ANY suburban county yet enjoys huge popularity in the local Republican primaries that often de-facto decide who will win the general election.

The great thing about county level office is that in many cases the intense partisanship of state and federal legislative offices is not nearly the factor for the local elections. I had the opportunity to travel to Forsyth county this summer, during the Republican primary, and though no Democrats qualified for county office you could see that many of the Republican candidates were basically the "Democratic" alternative in the Republican primary. As tempting as it is to try and win a seat in the state legislature, ambitious Democrats in the exurbs should probably spend most of time trying to secure some local offices.

Only then, when county residents see the positive fruits of a different kind of approach will they give Democrats running for higher offices a second look.

Posted by Chris at March 7, 2005 11:27 AM

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