Fear itself.

That’s the play in elections for office the farther they get from your community. These politicians know they have little to offer individuals, since they’re bought and paid for by wealthy special interests like corporations, which have become “people” by the U.S. Supreme Court, so they work to scare your vote to them.

You can discern this tactic by their fruits: Negative campaigning is the telltale sign.

When you feel yourself becoming worried and stressed amid the tumult and theater of this election season, keep this fact in mind: Your local school board or council members have far more impact on the lives of you and your family, friends and neighbors than a congressman or president.

If you want to contribute something positive to your fellow citizens in November, start by taking care of business in your own back yard.

Most of your property taxes go to schools – that’s not a criticism toward local schools, because they have always been underfunded by state and federal governments.

This is in fact one area where state and federal politicians could make a positive impact on people by providing more education funding.

But we the people don’t fund their campaigns the way special interests do. So while politicians in Lansing and Washington all run on promses of funding education, they can’t find a way to give it to just wealthy contributors, so they never keep those promises. And good luck changing that scenario.

However, schools are run by boards of local residents, and they determine the priorities on how that revenue, inadequate though it be, is spent.

You like to drink clean water. You need maintained roads and bridges, sewage treatment, waste disposal and recycling and information resources of a public library. You also need responsive police protection and firefighting service standing by, even though you hope you’ll never need it. An area’s economy depends on planning and promoting economic development. Every American is entitled to justice and equal protection under the law, as well as protection from crime.

Regional and local municipalities pay for most of these needs and some of others. They prioritize and decide how all these services are deployed and distributed in the community. So the public servants elected to head those offices are important to you and your friends and family.

So concern yourself less with who will live in the White House, and more with whose working for you at City Hall, county seat or school. And it’s in your best interest to stay informed on all that’s happening there that will directly impact your life.

If that sounds like a lot of work, it is. It’s not practical for every citizen to do it. But there is an advocate for the community out there every day, keeping watch, documenting events and monitoring actions on your behalf.

That would be the local community newspaper.

A Daily Mining Gazette editorial