Here’s something political scientists recently confirmed in a study, though most people already knew it: politicians who make a habit of insulting people get more TV coverage and get less done. More cable hits, fewer bills passed. More viral moments, fewer accomplishments. Being loud and being effective have nothing to do with each other.
It isn’t accidental. A nobody in Congress can become a household name overnight by saying something nasty enough about a colleague. It doesn’t have to be true. It doesn’t have to matter. It just has to get people fired up. So some politicians have made a decision: getting attention is the job. Not passing laws, not returning calls, not doing the slow, boring work that actually helps people. Attention. Insults are just the fastest way to get it.
That works in the other Washington because there’s a national audience to play to. Not so much in local politics, where what you do matters more than what you say.
In communities small enough that you’ll bump into your opponent at the hardware store, campaigns run on door-knocking and town halls. In that world, leading with insults doesn’t just fall flat. It costs you.
Voters in local legislative and county races are looking for someone who will actually show up and do the work. They want a candidate who has read the budget, knows the issues, and can talk about a school levy without making it a fight. When a local candidate spends their time attacking people instead of talking about anything, they don’t come across as tough. They come across as empty.
The loudest voices in Congress often represent pretty ordinary districts. Nobody back home is demanding they act that way. It’s a performance aimed at a national audience that rewards the spectacle.
Local candidates don’t have that option. Whether it’s the rotary, your political party, or the constituent who called three weeks ago, people are watching and people remember. The voter you brushed off at a forum tells their friends about it. Local voters are close enough to see through the act.
This isn’t a case for playing it safe. The local candidates worth voting for are often the ones willing to say something hard: that a tax increase is necessary, that cuts need to be made, or that something went wrong and someone needs to answer for it. That takes guts. But it’s a different thing from picking fights to get attention. Having something to say is not the same as being combative. Being direct is not the same as being plain mean.
What local politics still has, and what national politics keeps giving away, is a direct connection to real people. The voters you’re asking to support you are people you know. Some of them know your kids. Some of them will be sitting across from you at a community meeting next month, win or lose. There’s nowhere to hide when your constituents are your neighbors.
Voters in local races are still the ones making the call. And in my experience, they’re sharper than politicos give them credit for. They can tell the difference between a candidate who has something real to offer and one who’s just making noise. They might shrug it off and change the channel when it’s on TV. But when it hits their doorstep, it becomes real. When you’re struggling to buy gas and groceries, you want your leaders to lead, not perform.
•••
Rob Richards is a Navy veteran and former congressional staffer who has been an active community member in Thurston County for over two decades. To submit an opinion piece to the Thurston Chronicle, email news@thurstonchronicle.com.
