Vocal Local

News has reached us via carrier pigeon that former county commissioner David Triplett will be running for David Blust's seat on the Watauga County Commission and that he'll be running as ... wait for it ... a Republican.

For those who don't recall their recent local political history, Mr. Triplett was ousted from the County Commission by his own Republican Party back in 1994, when the local Republican power structure ran Linda Craig against him in a primary. They were mad at him for getting along so well with godless Democrats (our memory is that he -- gasp! -- voted for Democrat Ben Strickland as chair of the Commission, among other sins). After winning her election that year, Craig served one term before being ousted herself by Sue Sweeting in 1998 in another one of our great political upsets (of which Watauga County has more than its share).

So is Mr. Triplett running in 2006 with the blessing of the Watauga GOP? Well, not exactly. According to our carrier pigeon, which was very winded and panting from its flight up the Middlefork Valley, Triplett didn't get the blessing of his party to run because, well, he couldn't FIND his party to ask its blessing. The Watauga County GOP is apparently conducted as a sort of secret syndicate by three remaining old lee-zards and a figurehead chair, a female. Their meetings, infrequent and unadvertised, could be held in a medium-sized closet, not that there's anything wrong with that. (We refuse to grow snarky about what goes on in Republican closets.)

Triplett was a moderate when he served on the County Commission and would be a welcome relief, frankly, from the usual sort of candidate fielded by the Watauga GOP.