If you happened to show up at the historic showdown between the two warring factions of the Bronx Democratic party three weeks ago at the Paradise Theater, you surely would have been entertained. It was a great show.

But amid all the shouting and the bush-league stunts (like Jose Rivera’s supporters cutting the juice on the microphones and Council Member Maria Baez ignoring the “no” votes), it would have been almost impossible for most Bronxites to see how any of it mattered in their lives.

But it does matter. Politics matters – or at least it should.

Party organizations like the Bronx County Democratic Committee have a huge influence on who we send to Albany, City Hall and even Washington. Once they get there, they’re supposed to represent our interests in the legislative process and make laws that address the most pressing issues facing Bronxites and their fellow New Yorkers.  

Yes, there are endemic problems with the democratic process in Albany that block the constructive participation of everyone except the most senior lawmakers.

But that’s all the more reason we need to send strong leaders there and to every other level of government. We need intelligent, activist politicians who can join and lead the fight for reform.

We “hire” these politicians to make laws. That’s why we call them “lawmakers.” We should remember this when we vote. Too often, we praise and honor politicians only when they allocate funding to our favorite local organizations and public projects. We should remember that this is our taxpayer money they are redistributing; they are not philanthropists reaching into their personal bank accounts.

A good legislator is worthy of our esteem. Anyone can hand out checks.  

But it’s hard to hire a person appropriate for the job of lawmaker — and easy for someone unqualified to win — when so few people participate in the Democratic primary, leaving the decision up to a relatively few people. In the 86th Assembly District, Nelson Castro won the Democratic nomination (tantamount to election in the heavily Democratic borough) with only 1,513 votes — and he would have won had he gotten only 904 votes!

So, how the Democratic Party is organized and conducts itself is important. The Party organization has done  little voter outreach and supports lawmakers like Maria Baez who have atrocious legislative attendance records (she didn’t even show up at last week’s important public hearing for the Kingsbridge Armory, a giant economic development project in her own district) and clearly no interest in doing the job they were elected to do.

The fact that the Party leadership-in-waiting appears to be a diverse power-sharing coalition from all over the borough is a reason for hope, as are their promises to expand the voter rolls by bringing more Bronxites into the process.

But only time will tell if this group will truly represent us above petty parochial interests and cronyism by recruiting and running outstanding candidates who understand their role as lawmakers and truly represent the best of our great borough.

We’ll be watching closely. You should be, too.