If this were New Mexico, I would blame it on the rarified altitude of Santa Fe. But the altitude in Madison is about the same as Monroe. So how come critics out of Madison do such counterproductive things as putting Brett Davis on a "public enemies" list? It only gives folks around here another chance to defend him (see Monroe Times editorial, April 30). I can only conclude that these critics out of Madison don't understand rural/small town America.
OK, so I'm a political novice myself, this being my first race beyond the Monroe school board. And if I'm challenging Brett for the 80th Assembly District seat, how come I'm being nice to him?
It's not a matter of being nice, it's being civil. And it's a matter of understanding the people of this district. It doesn't take a political pro to know that nastiness will get you nowhere in this neck of the woods.
I cite New York Times columnist Nikolas Kristoff, former Oregon farm boy and FFA member. Kristoff insists that a Democrat can win in rural America - and it helps to start with a candidate who knows the difference between straw and hay. On these grounds I qualify, since I grew up in the hayfields on that farm a mile north of town, and have fond memories of threshing (we called it "thrashing") oats when I was a kid. But it goes beyond that.
The other day at breakfast my wife, Sherry, reminded me, "John, there is no room in this town for negativity." She's right. Brett is a likable guy - I like him myself on a personal basis. How could I not? And many of my friends are friends of Brett and/or the Davis family. During and after this campaign I have to be able to look my friends in the eye, not to mention Brett and myself.
I'm in this race because I have some distinct differences with Brett on education, health care, taxation issues and campaign finance reform. That's what this race is about, and these differences will come out during the campaign.
The 80th Assembly District is a swing district and you have to be able to talk to, and listen to, Republicans, Democrats, and Independents of whom there are many and who can go either way. (More districts should be like that and we need to reform the redistricting process to avoid gerrymandering and so many safe or lightly contested districts.) During the early stages of this campaign, I have yet to visit with any voter who is content with the tenor of the national campaigns, and who does not believe that partisanship in Madison is so excessive that little of consequence is accomplished.
The voters of this 80th Assembly District are savvy enough to know that you don't get away from politics in the legislative process - politics in the best sense of the word is "the art of the possible." But the point is that we all have similar long run goals - a safe and secure future, economic opportunity for ourselves and our kids, and the amenities of a high quality of life. We differ on how to get there, and that's where partisanship comes in. But once we figure out where we agree and where we disagree, voters expect us to knuckle down and get the job done, and not let partisanship get in the way. And we don't do it by character assassination, name-calling, and mud slinging.
If this democracy is to survive and flourish, we cannot afford to make cynics out of more people and drive them away from the political process because of the tawdry way so much of it is conducted.
Henry Kissinger once observed that "academic politics are so vicious because the stakes are so small." As an academic department head for some 15 years, four of them in a foreign country with an international faculty, I survived and believe myself to have been reasonably successful. To do this you have to work with people of all persuasions.
No two people can agree on everything. But what works for me is to listen to differing points of view. And when it comes to decision time, state what I believe and explain why. Most people will accept that.
The editors of the Monroe Times are correct when they remind us that voters of Green County and the 80th Assembly District are an independent lot - and don't appreciate folks from outside the district telling them how to vote.
And I bet on that we all agree - it's the way it should be.
OK, so I'm a political novice myself, this being my first race beyond the Monroe school board. And if I'm challenging Brett for the 80th Assembly District seat, how come I'm being nice to him?
It's not a matter of being nice, it's being civil. And it's a matter of understanding the people of this district. It doesn't take a political pro to know that nastiness will get you nowhere in this neck of the woods.
I cite New York Times columnist Nikolas Kristoff, former Oregon farm boy and FFA member. Kristoff insists that a Democrat can win in rural America - and it helps to start with a candidate who knows the difference between straw and hay. On these grounds I qualify, since I grew up in the hayfields on that farm a mile north of town, and have fond memories of threshing (we called it "thrashing") oats when I was a kid. But it goes beyond that.
The other day at breakfast my wife, Sherry, reminded me, "John, there is no room in this town for negativity." She's right. Brett is a likable guy - I like him myself on a personal basis. How could I not? And many of my friends are friends of Brett and/or the Davis family. During and after this campaign I have to be able to look my friends in the eye, not to mention Brett and myself.
I'm in this race because I have some distinct differences with Brett on education, health care, taxation issues and campaign finance reform. That's what this race is about, and these differences will come out during the campaign.
The 80th Assembly District is a swing district and you have to be able to talk to, and listen to, Republicans, Democrats, and Independents of whom there are many and who can go either way. (More districts should be like that and we need to reform the redistricting process to avoid gerrymandering and so many safe or lightly contested districts.) During the early stages of this campaign, I have yet to visit with any voter who is content with the tenor of the national campaigns, and who does not believe that partisanship in Madison is so excessive that little of consequence is accomplished.
The voters of this 80th Assembly District are savvy enough to know that you don't get away from politics in the legislative process - politics in the best sense of the word is "the art of the possible." But the point is that we all have similar long run goals - a safe and secure future, economic opportunity for ourselves and our kids, and the amenities of a high quality of life. We differ on how to get there, and that's where partisanship comes in. But once we figure out where we agree and where we disagree, voters expect us to knuckle down and get the job done, and not let partisanship get in the way. And we don't do it by character assassination, name-calling, and mud slinging.
If this democracy is to survive and flourish, we cannot afford to make cynics out of more people and drive them away from the political process because of the tawdry way so much of it is conducted.
Henry Kissinger once observed that "academic politics are so vicious because the stakes are so small." As an academic department head for some 15 years, four of them in a foreign country with an international faculty, I survived and believe myself to have been reasonably successful. To do this you have to work with people of all persuasions.
No two people can agree on everything. But what works for me is to listen to differing points of view. And when it comes to decision time, state what I believe and explain why. Most people will accept that.
The editors of the Monroe Times are correct when they remind us that voters of Green County and the 80th Assembly District are an independent lot - and don't appreciate folks from outside the district telling them how to vote.
And I bet on that we all agree - it's the way it should be.
