Non-Partisan & Partisan Politics in District 12

The Daily Snooze has constantly berated Middletown Democrats for dirty politics & a party split in their constant forced march toward so-called non-partisan council & school elections in Newport Co. The Middletown Dem. took unrelenting hits the past few months (& is still taking them). The editorial board at the snooze has decided in their wisdom, that non-partisan elections would end all "dirty" politics and everything would be wonderful.

Au contraire, if you've been following what's been happening in Newport. I'd site references from the Snooze, but they still haven't realized that there is $ to be made off the web & so charge for any references - they also don't like bloggers.

Some of the blame for the latest politicking has to lie with them. While they'll devote a page worth of space for a local fundraiser/party, they will do little (if any) reporting in depth on politics - like when you do research or follow-up. Instead they issue their endorsements or editorials with an attitude of "Because We Say So" and it's enough that WE know.

It's a crying shame when often the best source of news is innuendo, rumor, handouts, and e-mails. One could analyze WHY this is so & the newspaper has abdicated its own mission, but I'll leave you to your own conclusions which would probably be as valid as mine, although I've actually been through their "editorial" process.
One would never confuse the Snooze with any hard-hitting journalism, although they can be surprising good when dealing with social issues. But when it comes to in-depth, crusading reporting, they often resort to ostrich-like postures. (Hey, let's make it APPEAR that we're objective & not actually dig too much into any of this).

Non-partisan politics isn't any cleaner than partisan politics. I liked Frank Forgue's response in a Cox interview when he commented that if Middletown still had partisan school elections, you would have seen some choice in school committee elections, rather than 3 incumbents running with no opposition. In Newport there was only one new candidate.

While the Daily Snooze constantly berates the Middletown Democratic party, it was seemingly oblivious to the same happenings (though not quite so public) in the Middletown Republican Party. One may ask why the Snooze never mentioned this. One may also ask what happened to the Middletown Republicans to cause this split (I did).

More on this & their "editorial endorsements" later (like when they declined to endorse a Lt. Gov. because they want the job changed first).