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<b>Chronicles was made possible thanks to a</b> <b>community assets grant provided by the</b> <b>Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority,</b> <b>Springhill Senior Living, support by the</b> <b>Department of Education and the generous</b> <b>support of Thomas B. Hagan.</b> <b>This is WQLN.</b> <b>This program contains images that some</b> <b>viewers may find distressing.

Viewer</b> <b>discretion is advised.</b> <b>And you foolish, foolish people.

You</b> <b>Americans actually still seem to think</b> <b>that you're exceptional.</b> <b>You are not exceptional.</b> <b>American exceptionalism, this is such a</b> <b>term that is so</b> <b>misunderstood by the left and the right.</b> <b>The right believes American</b> <b>exceptionalism means America is the</b> <b>greatest thing that's ever existed.</b> <b>The left increasingly believes America is</b> <b>the worst thing that's</b> <b>ever befallen humanity.</b> <b>What American exceptionalism means is</b> <b>America deviates from the</b> <b>norms of Western Europe.</b> <b>America is, for better and for worse, the</b> <b>red-headed stepchild</b> <b>of the Western world.</b> <b>We lead the West in economic innovation</b> <b>and in infant mortality.</b> <b>American exceptionalism is a double-edged</b> <b>sword and it is both</b> <b>good and it is both bad.</b> <b>And it is a reality that helps us</b> <b>understand this strange bottom-up,</b> <b>rambunctious democracy where politics is</b> <b>a form of mass</b> <b>entertainment, for better and for worse.</b> <b>As a foreigner in these lands, I'm struck</b> <b>by how prominent and divisive political</b> <b>identity is in American daily life.</b> <b>This doesn't feel very united.</b> <b>How have we become so fractured?</b> <b>Well, we call it the rural-urban divide.</b> <b>And it's not to say that the 21st century</b> <b>is the first iteration</b> <b>of the rural-urban divide.</b> <b>But we're seeing it today in the 2020s</b> <b>and especially at a peak.</b> <b>You know, America in the 19th century was</b> <b>an overwhelmingly rural and</b> <b>overwhelmingly Protestant America.</b> <b>In the late 19th century, you have an</b> <b>America that's becoming urban and</b> <b>immigrant and</b> <b>particularly Catholic and Jews.</b> <b>And so in the late 19th century, we see</b> <b>the urban-rural divide that we see today.</b> <b>We see kind of the first iteration of</b> <b>this political, because</b> <b>it's a cultural clash.</b> <b>Whereas 100 years ago, rural Protestants</b> <b>very much thought of themselves at the</b> <b>center of American culture,</b> <b>the center of American politics.</b> <b>Thomas Jefferson, who was his kind of</b> <b>ideal American?

I mean,</b> <b>it was the yeoman farmer.</b> <b>By the early 20th century, you have an</b> <b>urban, immigrant America that has</b> <b>displaced this Protestant, rural America</b> <b>with a Catholic and Jewish urban America</b> <b>that is at the center of American life</b> <b>and is so much more prosperous.</b> <b>Right?

So it's a cultural and political</b> <b>clash that we've been seeing developing</b> <b>over the last century as rural Americans</b> <b>feel a very real sense of being marginalized</b> <b>and left behind.</b> <b>Extremism isn't new.</b> <b>We've seen far worse before.</b> <b>So as everybody knows,</b> <b>World War II was bad.</b> <b>Stalinism in the Soviet Union, 20 million</b> <b>Soviet citizens murdered.</b> <b>The Holocaust, 12 million Europeans, 6</b> <b>million Jews murdered.</b> <b>World War II was a</b> <b>cataclysm across the globe.</b> <b>The barbarities and the travesties of the</b> <b>Holocaust, Stalinism, and the Second World</b> <b>War were so bad that you had to change</b> <b>the political dynamics to</b> <b>forestall World War III.</b> <b>And there was an agreement.</b> <b>But this was an agreement by political</b> <b>elites and intellectuals on both sides of</b> <b>the Atlantic, on the center</b> <b>left and the center right.</b> <b>And essentially this, hey, center right,</b> <b>the fascists?

No longer</b> <b>in your political party.</b> <b>You chop it off at the end.

They're not</b> <b>allowed into mainstream Republican, or</b> <b>what we call Christian Democratic parties</b> <b>or the conservative</b> <b>parties, of Western Europe.</b> <b>Hey, center left, the</b> <b>communists?

They're out.</b> <b>OK, well, the vital center is that the</b> <b>center right and the center left are</b> <b>going to reach a broad agreement, some</b> <b>broad agreement on</b> <b>things like social welfare.</b> <b>And, you know, JFK, by all accounts, who</b> <b>was at the time thought of as so liberal</b> <b>by today's standards, maybe center right</b> <b>or nearly center, but definitely not the</b> <b>far liberal brand that</b> <b>he was being told of.</b> <b>Because when they started getting rid of,</b> <b>you know, moving away from the center,</b> <b>both on the right and</b> <b>left, it was so marginal.</b> <b>And now today, I think the pendulum has</b> <b>swung so far between the two and there's</b> <b>a bigger gap between the center.</b> <b>And we've forgotten all the hard won</b> <b>lessons of World War II.</b> <b>And that, you know,</b> <b>where's the vital center gone?</b> <b>It left with that generation as they</b> <b>passed from the scenes.</b> <b>The political extremes on the left and</b> <b>right have moved back into the center.</b> <b>And, you know, we're re-fighting the old</b> <b>fights of the prewar era.</b> <b>So what does this have to do with Erie?</b> <b>Well, this region is much more important</b> <b>politically than most people realize.</b> <b>I mean, I do believe Erie County is that</b> <b>microcosm of Pennsylvania and the</b> <b>microcosm of the country.</b> <b>And that's why back in the day, they used</b> <b>to do a lot of testing</b> <b>of market research here,</b> <b>because we are one of those communities</b> <b>that has just a really great mix of what</b> <b>the country kind of looks like.</b> <b>Politically, you know, we're in that</b> <b>we're part of what might be called the</b> <b>Rust Belt with the Midwest.</b> <b>And these are areas of the country that</b> <b>seem to be closest now</b> <b>in presidential elections.</b> <b>And that's why we get a lot of attention</b> <b>from in national politics.</b> <b>When you talk to people in other states</b> <b>and they say, ÑWell, no one ever comes to</b> <b>my state or my community</b> <b>who's running on a higher level.Ñ</b> <b>And here, they always come.</b> <b>Thank you, Erie.</b> <b>It's good to be back in Erie.</b> <b>I want you to be there for Barack Obama</b> <b>and Joe Biden, but be</b> <b>there for Kathy Dahlkemper, too.</b> <b>Dr.

Oz says stopping in Erie</b> <b>is crucial for his campaign.</b> <b>I'd like to shake your hand.

How are you?</b> <b>I'm asking for your vote.</b> <b>Right here in Erie.</b> <b>Hello, Erie.</b> <b>May I please have your vote.</b> <b>Because the folks that are set on the</b> <b>state level, the federal level, they</b> <b>realize that Pennsylvania is</b> <b>an important keystone state.</b> <b>And it's really a key</b> <b>to how the country votes.</b> <b>But I think the one thing that we all</b> <b>need to keep in mind is that while</b> <b>Philadelphia and Pittsburgh may help</b> <b>balance out the many red counties across</b> <b>the Commonwealth, folks cannot win</b> <b>statewide without Erie, Pennsylvania.</b> <b>And I think it's important that we</b> <b>realize we do have a significant role to</b> <b>play in determining</b> <b>who wins these elections.</b> <b>If they win in Erie,</b> <b>they're winning nationally.</b> <b>Clinton won, right, Erie.</b> <b>Clinton won nationally.</b> <b>Jimmy Carter won Erie.</b> <b>Carter won nationally.</b> <b>Ronald Reagan won Erie.</b> <b>Reagan won nationally.</b> <b>Same with Obama.</b> <b>So this has become a bellwether region.</b> <b>Presidential campaigns historically in</b> <b>Erie County have been very close.</b> <b>The Kennedy election was within a</b> <b>thousand votes, and Republicans were</b> <b>winning, sometimes Democrats.</b> <b>But the Trump campaign, we went to</b> <b>winning Erie by 20,000 votes for a</b> <b>president, to losing Erie to Trump.</b> <b>So those weren't</b> <b>Republicans that did that.</b> <b>Those are Democratic</b> <b>voters that voted for Trump.</b> <b>It's supposed to be a Trump thing.</b> <b>A lot of Democrats, but the Democrats</b> <b>that love Trump because I love them.</b> <b>And you know what?</b> <b>You're workers.</b> <b>You're like, we work, we work, we work.</b> <b>I was a Democrat who voted for Trump</b> <b>because I just felt that my philosophy</b> <b>was changing a little bit</b> <b>and a little more conservative.</b> <b>And that's one of the great failings of</b> <b>the Democratic Party, that we forgot how</b> <b>to talk, to communicate with</b> <b>working class white voters.</b> <b>White, working class voters after 19th, it</b> <b>used to be the core of</b> <b>the Democratic Party.</b> <b>They are increasingly, if not</b> <b>Republicans, they become the swing voters</b> <b>who are deciding national elections.</b> <b>There's egg on the face on both sides.</b> <b>My experience as a Democrat Party has</b> <b>allowed the progressive wing of the party</b> <b>to identify themselves.</b> <b>They've not done a good job of</b> <b>communicating that, hey, no, we're still</b> <b>a working man party, hey,</b> <b>we still want these things.</b> <b>And while they do that, it's while</b> <b>they're seeing people leave the Democrat</b> <b>Party much more faster than the</b> <b>Republican or independent.</b> <b>And not all those Democrats are coming to</b> <b>join the Republican because</b> <b>now shame on the Republicans.</b> <b>They're, I believe, have a communication</b> <b>issue as well, failing to</b> <b>provide a value proposition.</b> <b>A lot of them are saying, hmm, I don't</b> <b>maybe quite buy what you're peddling.</b> <b>I'm going to just sit here in the</b> <b>independents and never vote in a primary,</b> <b>at least in Pennsylvania.</b> <b>And then you start bringing it down to</b> <b>Erie County, you know, is really a player</b> <b>in how that kind of reflects how the rest</b> <b>of the country is thinking.</b> <b>The bellwether-ness of it all is we have</b> <b>to push into that we have to push into it</b> <b>and embrace what we</b> <b>have here in Erie County.</b> <b>And that's a lot of power.

And we don't</b> <b>under we don't understand that.</b> <b>And it breaks my heart on so many levels</b> <b>because people deserve to</b> <b>know that their voice matters.</b> <b>They deserve to know that</b> <b>they can use their voice.

Right.</b> <b>And it's not just in May or November, but</b> <b>all the time.

And</b> <b>they should be using it.</b> <b>Yeah, this is this is one of the one of</b> <b>the many conversations that get</b> <b>overlooked within our county.</b> <b>But at a national level,</b> <b>it's talked about all the time.</b> <b>But it's the opportunities for being on</b> <b>that radar to have that attention to get</b> <b>the president or the vice president or</b> <b>any of the secretaries to visit to make</b> <b>investments in our community.</b> <b>You know, it's that attention that Erie</b> <b>County has that now we're sitting at a</b> <b>county executive roundtable with Buffalo</b> <b>and Los Angeles and Seattle.</b> <b>Erie County, Pennsylvania.

Why?</b> <b>Because they</b> <b>recognize it's a swing county.</b> <b>I do believe that national government is</b> <b>very slow to move, although you wouldn't</b> <b>always think that as you're watching the</b> <b>national politics.

But not a lot of</b> <b>legislation actually gets passed in each</b> <b>Congress, you know, two year</b> <b>congressional time period.</b> <b>When you look at significant legislation</b> <b>that's going to change your daily life.</b> <b>And so for the American government to</b> <b>address the big, huge issues that concern</b> <b>everyday Americans, it really takes</b> <b>decades, if not a</b> <b>generation, you know, gun control.</b> <b>A vast majority of Americans want some sort</b> <b>of gun control.

Nothing has happened</b> <b>since the mid 90s.

And Americans look at</b> <b>that and they think,</b> <b>what is Congress doing?</b> <b>That's the American political system as</b> <b>it was designed to work.</b> <b>So how does the political</b> <b>process work at the local level?</b> <b>Whether it be the mayor or the county</b> <b>executive, they set the direction.</b> <b>They set the agenda.

They, they are able</b> <b>to get out there in front of the media</b> <b>and say, hey, look, we want to, let's</b> <b>say, bring in industry in Erie County.</b> <b>And sure, you might be upset because</b> <b>we're giving them a tax break.</b> <b>But after a period of time, they're going</b> <b>to be a lot more people working there.</b> <b>Those people contribute to the baseline</b> <b>of our financial resources.</b> <b>That's what they do.

Obviously, the</b> <b>county council or the city council, then</b> <b>those individuals who represent really</b> <b>the individual areas of the community.</b> <b>Now they can actually create the job or</b> <b>create the laws or the policies and put</b> <b>them into law to allow that to happen.</b> <b>Yeah, the mayor's clear responsibilities</b> <b>are obviously we have a police</b> <b>department, a fire department.</b> <b>So keeping people safe.</b> <b>And that's a huge challenge.</b> <b>But also we have a public works</b> <b>department that does things</b> <b>all year long in the winter.</b> <b>They're plowing the streets in the</b> <b>summer.

They're cutting</b> <b>grass repaving the streets.</b> <b>We do have a lot of needs and we have to</b> <b>make decisions on where funds go when</b> <b>most of the funds already spoken for.</b> <b>It's kind of hard to address the things</b> <b>that the community</b> <b>want and desperately need.</b> <b>And Erie cannot progress as a city unless</b> <b>it has a beating heart.

I always said</b> <b>that Erie is the heart</b> <b>of Northwest Pennsylvania.</b> <b>And we've seen an erosion of that.

But</b> <b>you can't have a heart that beats if it's</b> <b>a cardiac arrest all over the place.</b> <b>If the center of the city, which is not</b> <b>downtown, it's the people that live in</b> <b>these neighborhoods.</b> <b>And it's not Frontier.

It's not Glenwood.</b> <b>It's not above 38th Street.</b> <b>It's in the heart of the city where</b> <b>people live and people suffer and people</b> <b>have tragedies and people raise children</b> <b>in which they're</b> <b>living in desperate straits.</b> <b>And anybody that thinks that this town is</b> <b>cosmetically looking well because you're</b> <b>seeing cranes and things like that, the</b> <b>soul of the city needs help.</b> <b>So in this city, in Erie City, we are</b> <b>primarily a blue, meaning a Democratic</b> <b>base, but we are increasing in our</b> <b>independent numbers.</b> <b>And in the county, we see more of a</b> <b>higher red or Republican registration.</b> <b>But I wouldn't say that it's one way</b> <b>leaning the other because in fact we're</b> <b>seeing the independent registration</b> <b>increase quite</b> <b>dramatically over the past decade.</b> <b>There are some in this community that</b> <b>would like to pit the politics of Erie</b> <b>County very much as</b> <b>an urban rural divide.</b> <b>Well, the city belongs to the Democrats</b> <b>and the Republicans have a</b> <b>lot of control in the county.</b> <b>But I think when we get past those</b> <b>divides, the same way when we look past</b> <b>racial divides and other things, what we</b> <b>find is that there is a commonality</b> <b>amongst the voters here in Erie County.</b> <b>If you have folks that are worried about</b> <b>poverty as an issue, those folks aren't</b> <b>looking at poverty necessarily as a</b> <b>racial topic, and they're not looking at</b> <b>it as an urban topic or a rural topic.</b> <b>I mean, you show me a</b> <b>person that's unhoused.</b> <b>If you go up to that individual and you</b> <b>say, "Hey, are you a Democrat or you're a</b> <b>Republican," does it change the problem?</b> <b>If you come with resources, was it a</b> <b>Republican policy or Democrat?

I mean,</b> <b>I've not seen a single policy that comes</b> <b>out of county council that says a</b> <b>Democratic or Republican policy like it</b> <b>does in the state or federal house.</b> <b>It doesn't exist here, and it shouldn't.</b> <b>If our local governance is free from</b> <b>party politics, then why are there so</b> <b>many R's and D's on our ballots?</b> <b>But in a state like Pennsylvania, which</b> <b>is now relatively evenly</b> <b>divided, that stuff matters.</b> <b>I mean, a flip of a few thousand votes</b> <b>turns Erie County red or blue.</b> <b>And so the performance of local office</b> <b>holders influencing the assessment that</b> <b>people have of their</b> <b>particular political party.</b> <b>If Democrats are incompetent in running</b> <b>cities, you better believe that</b> <b>Democratic voters in cities are going to</b> <b>be looking to Republicans.</b> <b>And I think that although we're talking</b> <b>local politics, national politics, the</b> <b>national scene has gotten to a place to</b> <b>where it's not you deserve anymore.</b> <b>It's they don't deserve.</b> <b>That's too much.

They don't deserve.</b> <b>These issues are not just rural.

They're</b> <b>not just urban or suburban, but they are</b> <b>all of our issues because the people in</b> <b>the rural areas come in and use the city.</b> <b>But if our communities are not good on</b> <b>the outside, our urban core</b> <b>is not going to be good either.</b> <b>It's a symbion relation between the city</b> <b>and the county.

You know, it's not us and</b> <b>them, it's we.

So we have</b> <b>to work together as a team.</b> <b>And there's a lot of work that goes into</b> <b>that.

And I'm fortunate that I've got</b> <b>common sense county council</b> <b>members that are partners.</b> <b>And they set the politics aside.

They set</b> <b>the Democrat aside.

They</b> <b>set the Republican aside.</b> <b>In terms of politics overall, I think</b> <b>that regardless of what your identity or</b> <b>what you identify with, most people</b> <b>generally want the same things I find.</b> <b>They want a better lifestyle for their</b> <b>children.

They want their children to</b> <b>have better life than them.

They want</b> <b>them to be able to have a quality,</b> <b>affordable education.</b> <b>They want them to be able to afford</b> <b>health care.

They want</b> <b>them to go to good schools.</b> <b>And I don't care.

I haven't met anyone</b> <b>yet of colleagues or people that I've</b> <b>worked with peers on either side of the</b> <b>table who didn't want those things.</b> <b>And never one time do we sit down and</b> <b>talk about politics from</b> <b>a political perspective.</b> <b>I don't care whether my colleagues are</b> <b>Democrat or Republican or something in</b> <b>between.

We don't talk about it.</b> <b>What we talk about is</b> <b>issues that affect the counties.</b> <b>The thing I'm most proud of everybody on</b> <b>county council is when we come together</b> <b>on a resolution, an</b> <b>ordinance, we can get a 7-0 vote.</b> <b>I mean, that's exactly what we want.

We</b> <b>want everybody to agree.

We</b> <b>might grumble during our caucus.</b> <b>We might go, "I'm going to support this,</b> <b>but I'm not going to support 100 percent,</b> <b>but I'm going to vote yes.

"</b> <b>That's the goal of what we want.

We want</b> <b>a 7-0.

We're here for the</b> <b>people, not for the party.</b> <b>These are kids.

These are elderly people.</b> <b>They're unhoused people.

You know,</b> <b>there's people with all sorts of issues.</b> <b>Like, it's not politics.

And that's the</b> <b>beautiful thing about county government.</b> <b>Setting the bipartisan politics aside for</b> <b>a moment, let's explore what these</b> <b>elected officials do for our community.</b> <b>So the office of the county executive, I</b> <b>mean, this is probably the most complex</b> <b>office in our region.</b> <b>So the duties of the county executive</b> <b>vary.

I mean, number one, you're</b> <b>ultimately responsible</b> <b>for the county's budget.</b> <b>We administer a $580</b> <b>million-plus budget annually.</b> <b>You know, you handle any wide array of</b> <b>human services from Department of Human</b> <b>Services, Office of Children and Youth.</b> <b>It's the 9-1-1 Center.

It's public</b> <b>safety.

It's the library.</b> <b>The health department, the prison.</b> <b>It's adult and juvenile</b> <b>probation.

It's every now and then.</b> <b>You know, but then you have, you know,</b> <b>the other political</b> <b>issues, societal issues.</b> <b>You have broadband infrastructure.

You</b> <b>have economic development.</b> <b>I mean, it's such a broad job that I</b> <b>think even somebody that went and got a</b> <b>master's in economic development</b> <b>and studied this office for well over six</b> <b>years, you think that, you know, until</b> <b>you're sitting here in this very chair,</b> <b>and then you learn that</b> <b>you know that you don't know.</b> <b>So again, why is there so much noise over</b> <b>Republican this and Democrat that?</b> <b>You know, you can take a chef out of a</b> <b>kitchen or replace</b> <b>him with somebody else,</b> <b>and they're going to do</b> <b>things completely differently.</b> <b>And the flavor and the food and the</b> <b>approach and the</b> <b>process is going to change.</b> <b>You know, so that doesn't make the job of</b> <b>any previous or future executive wrong.</b> <b>It just makes it different.</b> <b>You know, you view the world through a</b> <b>different lens.

You have different</b> <b>priorities, different times and places.</b> <b>And I think that's what's unique about</b> <b>this office is how broad it is and also</b> <b>how clearly undefined the</b> <b>role for this office actually is.</b> <b>And I think that's part of, I think the</b> <b>downfall and the genius of that clearly</b> <b>undefined definition of what your duties</b> <b>and responsibilities really are.</b> <b>It's endless.</b> <b>Where I guess I will push back is that</b> <b>legally there have been violations and</b> <b>abuse of power that were absolutely</b> <b>outlined in the charter.</b> <b>People have no idea how their money is</b> <b>spent and how governments work.</b> <b>I mean, for the most part, the civics</b> <b>understanding in this community, and I</b> <b>would say this country at</b> <b>large, is very, very poor.</b> <b>And voting when you're living paycheck to</b> <b>paycheck is a second thought.</b> <b>You know, we just had</b> <b>record low voting turnout.</b> <b>And that's kind of sad because there was</b> <b>no high ticket items that were happening</b> <b>in the governorship or in</b> <b>the Senate or in Congress.</b> <b>So people literally sat out the most</b> <b>important election to you in your</b> <b>community, in your day to day life.</b> <b>The majority probably don't have a clear, clear understanding.</b> <b>There's certainly a smaller group that</b> <b>understands very well, and there's</b> <b>another group that</b> <b>maybe understand nothing.</b> <b>And then there's the groups, the large</b> <b>group in the middle that understand some,</b> <b>but not necessarily everything.</b> <b>And I try to explain things to people and</b> <b>they bring things to me and question.</b> <b>A lot of times I get questions about</b> <b>things the city has nothing to do with.</b> <b>And I'll try to get them to the county or</b> <b>the state or whoever is appropriate to</b> <b>talk to about it if they</b> <b>want to try to impact that.</b> <b>And people who you think have some level</b> <b>of conscientiousness, when I first got</b> <b>there, they couldn't differentiate.</b> <b>In fact, many people still say, oh,</b> <b>you're on city council.</b> <b>They don't necessarily understand or</b> <b>grasp that Erie City of Erie</b> <b>proper is a part of the county.</b> <b>It's one of the multiple municipalities</b> <b>that make up the county.</b> <b>And so they don't understand that the</b> <b>city does streets, parks, public safety,</b> <b>fire, you know, and zoning.</b> <b>So many times the constituent comes to me</b> <b>with those issues, which I still have,</b> <b>which is probably why I'm probably the</b> <b>most accessible elected in the region.</b> <b>If I don't have an answer, it's not</b> <b>uncommon for me to take someone by the</b> <b>hand and walk them through it or at least</b> <b>give them some guidance.</b> <b>But I spend a lot of the days educating</b> <b>people on exactly what</b> <b>the county council does.</b> <b>So people really don't</b> <b>truly get what we do.</b> <b>I mean, if you just go to their website</b> <b>and just look at all the different</b> <b>departments that we have,</b> <b>and then we have the courts to deal with,</b> <b>we have the sheriff's department to deal</b> <b>with, you know, it's a huge machine and,</b> <b>you know, it's people based.</b> <b>And that's what we have to</b> <b>do is take care of the people.</b> <b>There's one thing to say,</b> <b>we do budget, we do policy.</b> <b>But once I start telling them what all</b> <b>and how it affects them, that every real</b> <b>estate transaction in the city, it comes</b> <b>through the county,</b> <b>through our prothonotary.</b> <b>And I start explaining to them when they</b> <b>go, oh, that's your local government.</b> <b>And, you know, it is what it is, but</b> <b>education is important.</b> <b>Knowledge is power.</b> <b>And a lot of people who are working day</b> <b>to day don't realize that this is where</b> <b>the change happens on the local level.</b> <b>So when it comes to a city and a county</b> <b>level, you can do a lot of things that</b> <b>are going to truly affect, and hopefully</b> <b>a positive way, our</b> <b>community and people's lives.</b> <b>And yet I always say to people when it</b> <b>comes to voting, too many people just</b> <b>vote on the presidential years.</b> <b>They only wait until that big election</b> <b>year and they don't bother paying</b> <b>attention and voting for county council,</b> <b>city council, you know, the county</b> <b>executive, the mayor, township</b> <b>supervisors, all of those really</b> <b>important pieces of</b> <b>our government structure.</b> <b>And sometimes people will vote along</b> <b>party lines, regardless</b> <b>of who the candidate is.</b> <b>I had a candidate say to me just a couple</b> <b>weeks ago that he believed it was a seven</b> <b>to one ratio of Republicans want to ask</b> <b>what party at Republican good enough for</b> <b>me, where the Democrats were less likely</b> <b>to ask the party thing</b> <b>and actually do a follow up.</b> <b>Whether that's a fair assessment or not,</b> <b>that's my experience.</b> <b>So it seems to be more important to</b> <b>Republicans that it's kind of this you're</b> <b>either with me or not with me.</b> <b>I am a Republican and I disagree with</b> <b>that mindset.

And I think it's incumbent</b> <b>on people like myself and what I like to</b> <b>call free thinking individuals to push on</b> <b>our circles of influence.</b> <b>And when you hear that, that this person</b> <b>is, you know, they're of a</b> <b>different party affiliation.</b> <b>So there's all these negative things,</b> <b>these evil things or whatever that I</b> <b>don't identify with or dislike.

Well, the</b> <b>reality is that's probably not true.</b> <b>Chronicles was made possible thanks to a</b> <b>community assets grant provided by the</b> <b>Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority,</b> <b>Springhill Senior Living, support by the</b> <b>Department of Education and the generous</b> <b>support of Thomas B. Hagan.</b> <b>We question and learn.</b>