| Got an e-mail this morning about one of the candidates running for the Democratic nomination in the 11th House District. Listen, the e-mail said, to Joe D.'s spot this morning on Tony T.'s show. Joe D. discussed the candidacy of one Cody Bailey. At some point, I received via e-mail some opposition research on Bailey. Interesting reading. Seems that right up to very recent history that Bailey was a die-hard Republican, and that his Facebook choices show a lot of support for GOP candidates and conservative causes ... right up to a very recent period of time, when he apparently saw the light and became a Democrat. Youth being what it is, I suppose a fairly rapid conversion in politics if possible. At some point, his dad hailed his shift, and then said he knows his kid says he hates all political parties. If you read the stuff he once posted to Facebook, he also dislikes unions. Never met the guy and it ain't my district, so I'm not about to lay judgments on whether the conversion is a genuine evolution or, as alleged, shameless opportunism. I will say that this reflects a profound danger in electing very young candidates. They don't have a body of life experience built up, and this Bailey kid apparently just graduated from Albion College, to be able to figure out who's playing them and even whether the positions they take a giant con jobs foisted off by someone else. In other words, you can't trust them, not because young people are inherently untrustworthy, but because they tend to be gullible. This is especially true if their personal history is filled with inflammatory statements about unions and support for Republican candidates. I mean, the kid apparently did an internship with the Romney folks. Come Monday, Dave Knezak, the other Democrat running in the district, will be on Tony T.'s show with Harvey Santana. |