Political campaigns

 

We’ve had a week of praise for John McCain with messages of integrity, empathy, and inclusion; the lessons we all learned at home, at school, at church, at scouts...  Somehow those lessons didn’t stick.  The opposite became attractive.  Negative politics and negative ads are the norm because they work, and here comes another season of them.

 

“Did you know Senator X hates children and kills puppies?  Call the Senator and tell him to stop hating children and killing puppies.”  There may be a kernel of truth in some negative ads, but the message intentionally misrepresents and distorts.

 

We know the negative campaigns are coming, but I read a campaign quote that was so charming it made me feel good:

 

“We’re not running against anyone else or another political party. We’re running to do our best for this country, for every one of us. To make sure that we can all learn to our full potential by getting behind our public educators; to ensure that we are all well enough to contribute to our maximum capacity in life because we will lead on universal, guaranteed healthcare; to use our standing as the most diverse state in the country to rewrite our immigration laws in our own image; to ensure that our criminal justice system treats everyone with dignity, respect and provides equal justice; to know that every one of us can find work that ensures purpose, function and a living wage, that we have access to the higher education, the skills and the training to be able to find it; to be there for those who’ve borne the battle, with resources, oversight and accountability for veterans’ services -- to move forward, always. With confidence, courage, strength and, in Truman’s words, “with an unstoppable determination to do the job at hand.” Leave the fear, the anxiety, the hatred and the smallness behind.”

 

In reading this, even if you don’t like the policies suggested, it’s hard not to appreciate the delivery.  It’s like John McCain.  You didn’t have to like his politics and policies, but it was hard not to respect his commitment and integrity.  We should make a rule:  Every person running for office should have to have a message and have to campaign on it.  Candidates should be punished if they’re talking about the other candidate instead of their own message; doubly so if they’re doing it with personal insults and degrading nicknames.

 

Leave the smallness behind.