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Democrat muffins and Republican popcorn

Kathy Heicher

Posted: 07.04.2008 / 2:09 PM EDT

The real political season in Eagle kicked off last weekend with the Flight Days celebration. It’s a three-day, small town fest featuring a mix of country-western music and classic rock and roll bands on the stage in the town park, a parade down Broadway, and vendors selling everything from landscape photographs to funnel cakes.

It’s the first summer fest of the year in the valley, and in election years, the local political parties rally. County-level candidates printed up T-shirts, and marched with their supporters in the parade.

The local Democrats had a couple of Obama activities going. One was a blue-themed breakfast event (as in, “let’s make Colorado a blue state”) featuring blueberry pancakes and muffins. Following the parade, a cadre of local and state level candidates did some door-to-door campaigning.

The local Republicans had a huge booth in the town park that was a blaze of red, white and blue crepe paper and banners. My 7-year-old niece, who was visiting, was drawn in by the friendly ladies manning to booth, and by the lure of a free bag of popcorn and a helium balloon.  We didn’t really look closely at the balloon until we walked away.  It has “McCain” printed on it.

“Does this mean we have to vote for McCain?” she asked, dead serious. I assured her that in these days of campaign reform, popcorn and balloons don’t carry any obligations when it comes time to vote.

At the Sunday morning 5K and 10K race, the local Republican candidates were all over the place, glad-handing the competitors, and offering bottles of water or chunks of bananas. The members of the local non-profits who are in the trenches year after year are used to the ever-so-helpful political candidates popping up to volunteer in election years. Help is always needed, and welcome. Rarely do those aspiring politicians volunteer in non-election years.

The face-to-face politics in this valley tend to always be polite, like the Flight Days events.

It’s the anonymous campaigns that get spiteful.

Some anonymous locals have launched a fake newspaper-like website called the “Eagle County Times.” The site features lots of innuendo and rumors, usually castigating local democrat politicians while praising the republicans. Nowhere are the authors of the articles or operators of the site identified.

Similarly, there’s a handful of gadflies who offer non-stop political comment, via the web, on the Vail Daily newspaper’s website. These people, too, trash the democrats but love the republicans — the more conservative the better. Hiding behind a cloak of anonymity, they voice strong opinions … but are not willing to put those opinions in a signed letter to the editor.

So that’s the state of politics to date in the valley. Smiling face-to-face campaigns, and rather vicious attacks from the anonymity of the Internet.

‘Tis the season.