Quality of life issues like access to jobs, goods and services, the impacts of traffic congestion, the failure to maintain and upgrade our public and private transport infrastructure, and failed regulation, affecting shippers, consumers, and the public safety are being neglected by most of the candidates, for most offices, by both parties. Of course, this issue is of no apparent real importance to Putin's stooge, except to hold up projects for political reasons, to try to hold his opponents hostage...unless maybe UP names an engine after him...? Predictable vague generalities from these kind of statements don't give us much real insight either. Only a handful have much track record, either.

Since much of our national gubmint is currently so dysfunctional, hostage to the passions of the fringes, and that much of what has been proposed by both fringes would probably make things worse, and the best we can expect is vague and useless pronouncements of "good feelings" like this one, maybe that's not such a bad thing....?

In local politics this is becoming a far more serious issue. If some of these candidates really want to lose, then, sucking up to the fringe "road diet" and "car hater" lobby, and promoting more avoidable local traffic congestion, like we are seeing in some places, seems to be working....

One of my local Council candidates just got the "bike the vote" endorsement, for being the "alternative" who is supporting "road diets", and thankfully she appears to be going down in flames...

In another district, on another fringe, we have a global warming denier running on the Ken and John "evil" gas tax rant, who is also going down in flames....

Mayor Pete and Bloomy, do seem to get that maybe this could be a more salient issue, the two of them being current or former "local" elected officials...