County fairs, politics and country music

County fair season in southern Ohio, by tradition, also gets the political season under way. The proximity of the two, no doubt, lends itself to the binary association.

Thus, there were the usual number of conversations political last week at the county fairgrounds. I avoided some and participated in others.

The Highland County TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party had a booth at the 2014 Highland County Fair. That in itself is not particularly interesting.

What is interesting is that the TEA Party also conducted a local poll throughout fair week on the potential candidates for the 2016 presidential election. The results were anything but encouraging.

The TEA Party offered the following choices for president in the 2016 general election:

• Joe Biden.
• Jeb Bush.
• Dr. Ben Carson. (I like him.)
• Hillary Clinton. (I don’t like her.)
• Ted Cruz.
• Mike Lee.
• Rand Paul.
• Marco Rubio.

Those who attended the Highland County Fair and also took the time to respond to the TEA Party poll voted as follows:

• Hillary Clinton – 89 votes.
• Jeb Bush – 75 votes.
• Dr. Ben Carson – 58 votes.
• Rand Paul – 54 votes.
• Marco Rubio – 13 votes.
• Joe Biden – nine votes.
• Mike Lee – two votes.
• Ted Cruz – zero votes, unless you count my one verbal vote on Labor Day. (As a general rule, I do not participate in such polls.)

One more thing, the TEA Party polling also offered this choice: None of the above. NOTA received 402 votes, easily surpassing all other potential candidates combined.

On the bright side, “none of the above” wasn’t a bad choice, given the political options. Granted, it would have been nice to see Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as a possible presidential contender. Of course, he’d most likely place somewhere between Joe Biden’s nine votes and Mike Lee’s deuce. I really think Mike Pence would be a good choice, though.

Let’s note, too, that the top two choices were a Clinton (by marriage) and a Bush (by birth). This is most interesting if for no other reason we have had a Bush or a Clinton in the White House or presidential Cabinet from the Reagan administration to the Obama administration (first term).

Think about that. For more than three decades, the Bushes and Clintons were a part of the United States presidency in one way or another. It’s about as close to an aristocracy as this great republic has come in 238 years.

So here’s a suggestion from someone who does not belong to either the Republican Party or the Democratic Party.

End your centuries-old political feud and endorse a Bush/Clinton ticket or a Clinton/Bush ticket in 2016. Bring Jeb and The Hill together, sing a little “Kumbaya,” and waltz back into family power.

After all, politics makes strange bedfellows.

* * *

With all local eyes on the 2014 Highland County commissioner’s race, one nice lady at the fair told me that she’d been a lifelong Republican but changed to a Democrat at this year’s primary. She added this question regarding the commissioner’s race between Republican Jeff Duncan and Democrat Randy Mustard: “Can I vote for both of them?”

Therein lies the dilemma when two quality people run for the same office. On a positive note, that dilemma is a good thing. Jeff and Randy are good men with good records of community service and private-sector business experience.

* * *

Did you hear the one about the small-town mayor who was caught jaywalking and his obsequious minion who immediately blamed a previous administration for putting the crosswalks in the wrong place? Me neither.

* * *

For some reason or another, I’ve been listening to a lot of music recorded by artists with three names. It only recently dawned on me, too.

My pre-dawn musical selection often includes Jerry Jeff Walker, who has a great end-of-vacation song in “Cowboy Boots and Bathing Suits.” I also enjoy “Sangria Wine” and “Old Five-and-Dimers Like Me.”

One of my favorite songs is “The Dutchman,” written by Michael Peter Smith. Jerry Jeff Walker gives the song its due, but maybe not quite so much as Key West’s Michael (Only Two Names) McCloud. Both versions are excellent, though.

Then, there’s Robert Earl Keen, another Texas troubadour. His “Paint the Town Beige” and “Mr. Wolf and Mama Bear” give pause for local reflection. “The Armadillo Jackal” is good, too.

Of course, David Allan Coe’s “You Never Even Called Me by My Name” is an all-time classic, as is his version of “The Ride,” a tribute to the Hank Williams. (Speaking of Hank Williams, there’s another pretty fair country singer with three names: Hank Williams, Jr.)

But probably the one who prompted this already-too lengthy column was one Ray Wylie Hubbard.

If you’ve never heard Ray Wylie Hubbard – and if you like musicians with an edge and a measure of political irreverence – you can listen to him online and decide for yourself. (And it may or may not be true that I sent a link to Ray Wylie’s “Snake Farm” to a local public official who’s admittedly afraid of snakes.)

Meanwhile, trying to get out of this column is like trying to get out of Luckenbach, Texas. Which brings to mind yet another country singer with three names: Waylon, Willie and the Boys.

Did I forget to mention Billy Joe Shaver and Stevie Ray Vaughan? It’s just as well. Let the Good Times Roll.

Rory Ryan is a retired fisherman and part-time newspaper owner.