By TOM HONIG
I ran into U.S. Rep. Sam Farr at a Denny's in Marina the other day (when I got into journalism I imagined dinners with important politicians at three-star restaurants .... oh well) and of course the discussion turned to election season.
I've been ignoring the campaign it as best I can ("Don't you ever write on your blog anymore?" people ask) but it still seems to dominate conversations.
Sam discussed the various races -- he himself will have an easy path back to office -- and in particular former California Secretary of State Bruce McPherson's race for Santa Cruz County supervisor.
"I've always thought it's better for people to start big and end up in local office," Farr said. "You get elected to Congress and you have a big staff and all. It's easy."
Serving at the local level is more difficult. "It's there that you need experience." I'd add that it's there that you affect people's lives more. It's an irony that way more people vote in a presidential election than on, say, a race for county supervisor, because the local race is the one that affects where you drive, where you park, where you shop and whether there's a bike path nearby.
Let's face it: everybody knows who's running for president; most people can't name their county supervisor.
Farr is onto something. You almost get the feeling that he'd rather be back on the Monterey County Board of Supervisors.
