A Bigger Table

The Republican Party in East Hampton Town, generally, is in trouble. Its issues echo in the national party’s obsession with harebrained conspiracy theories and overtly divisive rhetoric, a populism that has new life after it helped win the White House in 2016 for a lone, fleeting term. The party’s local leaders are immersed in that culture — it is, after all, the GOP’s default at the moment — and thus offering very little to nothing in the way of an alternative, particularly for local issues.

The impact is clear: Republicans are behind in voter registration in the town, the gap is growing, and there are no green shoots in evidence. The bigger problem is that the party is bereft of reasonable, level-headed, serious East Hampton residents who have municipal experience, or the skills that translate well to Town Hall, who want anything to do with the Republican brand. And that’s in a party where, ironically, so many true “locals” are still Republicans, and a healthy conservatism remains alive and well.

Local politics still adopts the structure of national politics — Democrats and Republicans are still the two dominant tribes — but the rising tide of independent and “no affiliation” voters suggests it maybe nearing time for those divides to go the way of village races, where ad hoc parties bring together like-minded people who might otherwise be divided by D vs. R. The partisan stew at the national level is tainting the local fare, so maybe it’s time to change the menu.

The town’s Republican Party faces a stacked deck most years, and that breeds a kind of desperate appeal that scares away a lot of talented men and women, who simply have no desire to enter the fracas. It’s a vicious circle that will take political courage to address.

This year looks more promising than most for the party, as they have an actual slate of candidates to present for town offices. But over recent years the Republicans have had their best candidates flat stolen from them by the opposing party, or effectively co-opted. It’s actually a workable solution for the town: The best candidates are still getting elected, even though some of them are “DINOs” — Democrats in name only. That works locally as a way of addressing the Republican Party’s inconsequential state.

But there is danger in any one-party system. The Democrats hold vast power to set the agenda at the town level with no viable opposition, no reasonable counterpoints, no competing narrative about what the future should look like, no appealing new ideas from the conservative side. The only viable opposition comes from a member of the Democratic Party breaking stride and stepping forward — which happens sometimes, and is happening now, but can’t be counted on for a true diversity of opinions.

The new GOP slate could well change things, but it’s reasonable to say that East Hampton remains a Democratic stronghold. The healthiest communities have respectful, reasoned disagreements about how things should be done. Perhaps this election will be one when the Republican Party comes to the table and truly gives voters a reasonable alternative. If not, it would be smart for Democrats to work hard to maintain seats at the table offering a range of opinions and options. Someone has to do it.