By DAN VALENTI

PLANET VALENTI News and Commentary

(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 2015) — Campaigns have turned into Death Marches for the electorate. Presidential campaigns now run spill over into the fourth year. Literally the day after Barack Obama turned back Mitt Romney to win a second term, he became a lame duck, and you could already find stories about 2016. Statewide, it’s nearly the same. Any serious candidate for governor has to begin the turn about seven miles out.

Turning The QEII

To turn a large vessel like the QEII on the open ocean, one must begin seven miles ahead. You can’t do it the way you would take a left hand turn from East Street onto Lyman in a Ford Focus. So it is with campaigns.

Even the local level has succumbed. The Pittsfield campaign began in April and will last to Nov. 3 — too long and impractical for the offices at stake. Voter fatigue in Podunk, Mass., sets in early, producing three categories within Pittsfield’s electorate of between 28,000 and 29,000 voters.

Category One Voter — ‘The Duncers’

These are the “citizens” too stupid, lazy, unlettered, unschooled, and unenlightened to vote. The Category 1 “electorate” can be seen daily congregating at places like Persip Park on North Street, the bus station, and most anyplace downtown with benches. At night, The Duncers patrol the neighborhoods (primarily the West Side) in search of fixes, fixers, fixees, or trying to break into cars and homes to steal money or property for the next hit. These people do not have jobs, do not contribute to the public treasury, suck the community chest dry with benefits they haven’t earned, and think the world owes them a living.  Fortunately, they don’t vote. Unfortunately, this is the fastest growing segment of the Pittsfield population (group homes, convicts, meth addicts, pregnant and single young women, and the like).

The Duncers — Size 50% of the electorate … Power Rating: Negligible

Category Two Voters — The Little Guys

The next electoral strata consists of citizens who try to follow the issues. They are Mary Jane and Joe Kapanski, The Little Guys. They pay most of the taxes and hold most of the average jobs. They keep their yards up, their debt levels down, give to charity when they can, attend religious services, believe in fair play, obey the law, and want simply to be left alone to live their lives in peace or a reasonable facsimile thereof.  They want honest representation but don’t get it. They know they are overtaxed but also realize and have for some time that none of the “establishment” candidates will give two squirts about them the second after the election is over. Unfortunately, apathy and lack of time keeps them away from the polls in large numbers.

This group is the most besieged among the electorate. Too few of them vote because they know it doesn’t matter. For example, the choice between Peter Marchetti and Dan Bianchi in 2011? That’s like a condemned prisoner being allowed to select burning at the stake or being drawn and quartered. This was a choice between two Insiders each of whom were controlled by The Special Interests. No matter who got in, the city budget would rise, services would decline, and taxes would go up. Consequently, the majority of this disillusioned group have fallen victim to apathy.

The Little Guys — Size: 35% of the electorate … Power Rating: 20%

Category Three — The Suits

The Suits represent the smallest of the three electoral categories in number but hold by far the most power and influence. They include incumbent politicians, elected and appointed officials, business leaders, and anyone with influence, trying to obtain influence, or wield influence. The Suits are constantly on the make and the take. They control the votes in their fiefdoms and protectorates, and their vast power is directly proportional to the amount of apathy in Class 2 of the electorate.

In 2013 and ’14, The Suits succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. In 2013, a general election drew less than 1/4 of the vote, enabling these crooks to ram through a flawed charter that solidified their power. In 2014, their crowning achievement was shutting out The Kapanskis from having a direct say on a $121+ million expenditure for a superfluous high school. Every city councilor, school committee member, school administration member, the mayor, and city clerk supported shutting The Little Guy out of this process.

The Suits — Size: 15% of electorate … Power rating:  80%

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Only One Long-Shot Chance to Stop the Corruption

Here’s The Suits’ game plan for this year’s campaign:

(a) Count on The Duncers not voting.  No worry there.

(b) Engineer another Bianchi-Marchetti run-off, two insiders who will “play ball,” which before all else means not touching The School Department except to add millions to the haul. They are counting on a Bianchi-Linda Tyer final and have a bobo in the form of Jake “JIV” McCandless as superintendent.

(c) Drive as much apathy as they can among Category Two.

That’s how another election will be hijacked. The only chance to stop this is to somehow dramatically boost turnout, especially of Little Guys. Otherwise, it’s all she wrote.

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 “Oh fellas, here’s a tip I’m gonna pass down to you: Never mistreat your woman, because it’s gonna bounce right back on you.” — Louis Armstrong, “Back O’ Town Blues,” from the album, Louis Armstrong at the Crescendo, (1955).

“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”

LOVE TO ALL.