So, kiddies, what have we learned?

Well, let's review the last two weeks, shall we, children? We have learned that a lot of people from all over the county are obviously very tired of the Preston approach to government, which is basically this: You dumb schlubs send us more money every year, and we'll spend it. Since you are obviously not sophisticated enough to understand that there government accounting, we won't even confuse you with it. We'll keep track of where the money is going.You can trust us.
We also learned that Cindy Wilson is indeed bulletproof, despite a massive effort by the Joey machine to once again run her out of town.Joey, as Ric Flair says,to be the man, you've got to beat the man! And you are 0-5 in the only court that counts at election time - the court of public opinion.Lawyers just don't help much there, do they? Wilson's repeated re-election proves glaringly that the people of that District trust Cindy Wilson far more than they trust you.
In light of the primary results, and especially the runoff results, it appears that attitude is catching on across the county.
We also learned that Rick Driver and his little old itty bitty radio station is a real political force in this county, whether anyone likes it or not. His lunches and breakfasts with Rick consistently draw more than a hundred people, and his consistent, albeit narrow, focus is effective, just like a magnifying glass setting a leaf on fire.I smelled smoke last night. Did you?
We also learned that Dan Harvell and the "real" Taxpayers' Association seem to be surviving their earlier tactical defeat. It turns out that Ed Jean and his crew's little stunt, while clever, served more as a wake up call than a sit down and shut up message.
Harvell clearly improved his stock, as he was instrumental in constructing a comeback that saw Waldrep go from a four point deficit headed into the runoff to a fourteen point rout of a well financed and heavily backed handpicked candidate.He may have found his niche behind the scenes, doing the heavy lifting.
I guess we also learned if you go to the race track with Joey Preston, don't let him pick your horses. He's not very good at it.I wouldn't let him pick my salad dressing at a fancy Hilton Head restaurant.
We also learned that Bob Waldrep is a bit of an old war horse, who doesn't back down from a fight and who is flexible enough to adjust his tactics in the middle of one. That's got to make Joey feel good.
We learned that other people in Anderson County vote besides the intelligentsia that is so comfortably ensconced on this blog, telling everyone how dumb they are to disagree, and how little they understand politics.Politics is like baseball, full of nuances and strategies and changes in fortune. And at the end of the day, the one with the most runs wins. How complicated is that?
We learned that incumbency is only an advantage if the incumbent has done something worthwhile with his or her term.Just putting a butt in the chair and voting yes every time the administrator yanks the string tied to your arm isn't good enough anymore.
Well, kiddies,that's quite a lot to learn in just two weeks. I know some of these lessons weren't fun, but maybe the next few months will be. We'll be dissecting a worm in lab.