They’re polling Birminghamians today …

… and you know how painful that can be.

All politics really is local. Case in point: Our current city councilor, Valerie Abbott, is running for re-election. And today is Election Day. No big deal.

Except, even at this level, it’s still a fight. [Updated!]

Heck, I didn’t even know she was running against anyone. Turns out, she has two opponents in this hotly contested race. And by hotly contested, we mean– well, we’re not 100 percent sure.

I didn’t even realize I knew one of the other candidates. The name was familiar, but it didn’t hit me until I saw his mailed postcard with endorsements from friends in the film community. Intrigue!

Then, the negative attacks from at least one opponent. Which is surprising for a couple of reasons. Her record is pretty solid, for me anyway. I show up to the neighborhood meetings, and so does she. I show up to neighborhood cleanup projects, and so does she. She tells us what’s going on down at City Hall, and the skeptic in me would tend to doubt the tall tales.

Except they’re all true. Even the made-up ones.

She’s smart, she’s sensible and she’s diligent. She’s practical and speaks her mind.

What the heck is she doing in politics?

So my mind was made up a long time ago. I even offered to help with the campaign, but never heard back. Sigh. I’d be good at tearing down signs driving old folks to the polling place.

But then, a few of the negative attacks are launched, either by e-mail or hearsay. Now, I’m really skeptical.

The other candidate’s name sets off all kinds of alarm bells in my head. The kind that remind me of the fire buzzer in my dorm at 4 a.m. for the fourth time that night.

Ah, good times.

In discussing the Abbott race with friends, I hear conjecture that the opponents are being funded (quite well) by her enemies. How do you even have enemies at this level? What’s the saying: They fight so hard over power because they don’t realize it’s over so little. (Close enough.)

(BTW, we don’t trade in rumors here. Conjecture, hearsay, whispers, finger-pointing, but never rumors. A girl’s gotta have her standards.)

I went over to vote at the church this morning, and in the parking lot are supporters for one of the opponents. C’mon! It’s one race with but three wee candidates on the ballot — if you haven’t decided by this point … It’s not like people were coming out for anything other than to vote in this one. tiny. race.

It took longer to feed my ballot into the scanner than to mark one oval. It took longer for them to find my name on the rolls. And in a few hours, we’ll know the results.

But it was important enough to spend the time to get out and vote today. In fact, it was important enough, that I voted twice, just to be safe.

Update

Unofficial results

District 3
B’ham City Council – Dist. 3

17 of 17 precincts reporting (100%)

(i) Valerie Abbott 2,005 79% (winner)
Chris Hartsell 410 16%
David Ricker 114 5%

Posted: Tuesday, October 11, 2005, 4:40 pm, in B'ham.
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