It was 6:50 pm, Friday evening. My wife and I were about to enjoy the Netflix DVD, “Breach,” the story of FBI agent Robert Hanssen’s 22-year betrayal of America, when the two-tone sound of the bell alerted me to someone at the door. The knock which followed a little later, was a reminder that I might not be responding quickly enough to my unknown inquirer.
I flicked on the hall light, opened the front door, and there, through the mesh of the screen door, stood a meticulous young man, dressed in a well-tailored dark suit. Looking beyond his right shoulder, I spotted a sedan parked perpendicular to the bottom of the driveway – perhaps his driver.
“Hello,” I said, thinking that he must be a Jehovah’s Witness, given that a number of these equally well-dressed people have intermittently called at our house over the years. This man, though, proved the adage that one should never judge a person based upon a quick, first impression – it invariably turns out wrong.
No, this was Matthew Moench, newly-minted candidate for the Bridgewater Township Council. Mr. Moench volunteered that he is on a slate with Patrick Scaglione, incumbent for re-election to the Council; and with Patricia Flannery, Bridgewater’s mayor, also running for re-election next November.
There you have it: the local Bridgewater Township election campaign is underway. I must admit, although I have not yet taken a position on any of the candidates, that I am definitely impressed by this person who is willing to go out on a Friday’s summer night to conduct an informal, house-to-house, press-the-flesh, get-to-see-my-face campaign.
Tip O’Neill, the late Massachusetts congressman coined the phrase, “All politics is local.” To that I’ll add, “….and it’s also one-on-one personal.” Mr. Moench seems to have intuited the value of both.
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