How do you tell the difference?

Two, four, six, eight. How to differentiate?

It used to be said that you couldn’t tell the players without a scorecard. Now, in these confusing times with 24-hour news and continually shifting narratives, you need more than just a scorecard.

To have any idea how to vote in the upcoming elections, most of us need to differentiate the candidates — to tell the difference between the politicians who are saying and promising essentially the same things.

In some cases the difference is obvious.

Taxation is one. The Wall Street Journal says there’s a $6 trillion difference in federal taxes between the Republicans and Democrats. That’s based on contrasting approaches to deal with cuts that lapse after 2025. While the GOP wants to extend all cuts, the Dems want to raise taxes on high-income households. If President Biden wins and the Democrats gain strength in Congress, expect even higher taxes, likely extending well into the middle class. Although an over-simplification, the WSJ analysis is probably not far off the mark.

TRECKER

At the local level, differentiation is particularly difficult. Candidates tend to mouth the same platitudes and offer many of the same things to their constituents — faith-based governance, public safety, property rights, clean environment, economic prosperity, etc., etc.

But a few candidates stand out.

Collier Commissioner Burt Saunders, running for reelection in District 3 against three other Republicans, put it on the line in a recent commission tussle. He urged a year-long moratorium on development to the east. Citing terrible traffic problems, Saunders proposed a temporary hold on rezoning and land-use changes along several main roads east of I-75.

Area residents backed him, but the four other commissioners did not and shot down his rather modest proposal. Nevertheless, it differentiated him. It made him stand out.

How about Naples City Council candidates? There’s a slug of them. A recent forum revealed some differences.

Of the three mayoral contestants, Gary Price stood out, but for the wrong reasons. Heavily funded by developers, he claimed his independence by boasting he killed a merger many years ago: “Annexation of Pelican Bay would have been the worst thing that could have ever happened to Naples.” Price knows he’s safe from retaliation. We county residents to the north can’t vote against him, much as we might like to.

Technical difficulties led to another differentiation. The forum telecast butchered everything William (“Bill” or “Coach”) Kramer said and most of what Nick del Rosso had to say. You couldn’t understand them. Blip, blot, blurt. Was it sabotage or just lousy equipment?

Finding real differences between the city candidates was difficult. Several zeroed in on parking woes. Linda Penniman stressed the need for resiliency in beaches and coastal waters. Combining forces in opposition to Price, Theresa Heitmann and Ted Blankenship opposed “over-building.” Everyone pledged to fix staff shortages. And nobody liked Tallahassee’s attacks on home rule.

A forum on commissioner candidates is coming up on May 8, and it will be a challenge to suss out differences there as well. Given the county’s very conservative bent, it’s likely most will be singing the same tune.

Come summer we’ll learn more about the proposed constitutional amendments. One of them, if it makes it to the ballot, would legalize recreational marijuana, setting the stage for a real donnybrook in the fall. There should be no problem differentiating the pros and cons of pot.

How about the presidential election? One thing is certain. If it comes down to Trump versus Biden, we’ll have no trouble telling them apart. Their extreme views are as different as can be. ¦

— Dave Trecker is a chemist and retired Pfizer executive living in Florida.

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