OUR VIEW: Voters look for leaders with vision

Staff Editorial
Published: November 5, 2008

» SUMMARY: The electorate — locally, statewide and nationally — showed an independent streak on Tuesday.

Culpeper, along with the rest of the country, woke up Wednesday in the midst of history:

-The nation has elected its first black president.

-Culpeper, while staying mostly red, gave its nod for the U.S. Senate to Democratic former governor Mark Warner.

-Virginia has two Democratic senators for the first time since 1971, as Warner joins Jim Webb in the Senate.

-The county’s proposed meals tax failed for a fourth time, by the biggest margin yet.

-Republican Congressman Eric Cantor’s Democratic challenger, Anita Hartke, received the highest percentage of votes of any opponent Cantor has faced since he began running for Congress in 2000.

So, what lessons can we learn from Election Day 2008 that we can apply to Culpeper?

First, voters want results and they don’t mind crossing party lines to get them. Change was the byword for both President-elect Obama and Sen. John McCain.

We hope local elected officials were paying attention Tuesday. Conflict, intransigence and unnecessary spending in a time of economic duress will not be tolerated and supervisors, town councilmen and School Board members may find that out at the polls if they don’t take heed.

Second, voters are looking for elected officials who are able to state their goals clearly and then provide innovative solutions.
Candidates are being held accountable for the promises they make.
The election of Obama and Warner shows the electorate wants pragmatic, visionary, bottom-line-oriented leadership. Identify the problem, and fix it!

Campaigning is easy; governing is more difficult. Culpeper voters are looking for leadership in their elected officials. Where they see it, they will reward it at the polls. Where it is deemed to be lacking, they will look for an alternative.

We are living in dangerous times. May our leaders at every level have the vision and courage to act as Americans, not partisan politicians, in moving our nation, our commonwealth and our county forward.