| 5/10/2008
12:01:00 AM |
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John Waelti: Campaign should
be about the issues
 |
John
Waelti
| 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.
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