People who disagree with you are not evil

As a columnist who got his start writing about politics and still occasionally joins that conversation, I have not been looking forward to 2014. The reason, of course, is that it’s a partisan election year.

Between now and November, we will be subjected to election campaigns between Republicans and Democrats and all of the ugliness that has come to mean.

This is the subject of my column today in the Door County Advocate.

One last point: Part of the reason the constant bickering between partisans is annoying is that the two parties are not as divided as they believe they are. Both major parties believe in a large, intrusive federal government. Where they occasionally differ is in which parts of our lives to intrude upon.

I believe, perhaps naively, that people enter politics wishing to serve the electorate. But most folks would be able to handle their lives just fine without a gaggle of officious officials looking over their shoulders and regulating nearly their every action.