Photo by Debra Schmidt
http://schmidtphotography.smugmug.com/
Loyalty is a fine quality, but in excess it fills political graveyards.
It has been encouraging to get all the emails, texts, condolence cards, and even phone calls after my election loss. There have been many hands on my shoulder as I’m out at holiday events, “So sorry you lost.” I’m sure my opponent got as many congratulatory ones, at least I hope he did. It was also something to ponder that I got so many messages (email, texts, letters and phone calls) from majority party legislators, active and retired, expressing disappointment in my loss. But at the same time the majority party spent so much effort to unseat me. Indeed, my Senate colleagues contributed significantly to my opponent.
From the Campaign donation information on the Secretary of States website
I was not surprised; they always have, though not always as much. It didn’t hurt so much before because I won, though honestly, I never won by much. My margin has never been more than 800 votes, close to one percent. This is a swing district (there are only three of the 35 legislative districts in this state that have a mixed R/D delegation) and that’s where the parties in this unbalanced state play their power. I am trying to understand the meaning of party loyalty for those of us who have been elected as opposed to our supposed goal of working for the common good. Let me know if this is whining; I hate whining.
The above donation is just from my Senate Republican colleagues. All told, the Republican party and seated legislators directly contributed over 20% of my opponents fundraising, not including the independent money (?$10,000) they spent. That’s no small effort. One retired Republican legislator told me, “Dan, they just have so much money and there are so few contested races, and so few swing districts, they have to spend it somewhere.” Such doesn’t seem a conservative value, does it?
I can remember a neighbor down on Wildhorse River that told me “the only good coyote was a dead coyote”. He raised sheep, so I understood his sentiment. I imagine the Republican Party in Idaho might say the same about Idaho Democrats. And indeed, Idaho Democrats may have the reciprocal view. Does this partisanship serve our state?
One could discount the public and private sentiments expressed by my colleagues as just polite condolence, not heart felt. One North Idaho legislator actually argued with me when I said the legislature will do just fine without me. He said he respectfully disagreed; he thought my contribution was going to be sorely missed. I politely did not confront him with this, from his local Republican committee:
So I’m wondering, maybe they did not really consider me worth keeping around, despite their words. Instead the value of having a Republican, any Republican (no matter the character or skills or politics) was worth getting rid of me. That makes me feel pretty special, like Wile E Coyote was special to the Roadrunner. But it sure brings out the cynicism.
If I were to go this route, that is, to decide their words were not genuine, just polite pandering like cocktail party compliments, then the work I did for six years to build relationships and integrity in the legislature is not worth dry spit. And such effort isn’t worth any time for those involved in the legislative process. I find such a bitter conclusion abhorrent, but possible, given the reality of our current political landscape, both in the state Capitol, and maybe in the populace in general. Should we all just play the partisan game, winning and losing? I am guilty of wanting more from all of us.
We could cynically say: it’s just politics. And the party brand is how politics is played: my guy wins, your guy loses. Even more insidious, my Republican colleagues could be trying to distance themselves from the actions of their party. That is, their party makes decisions they would not on their own. So then why are we affiliated? If you look carefully at the beautiful Idaho Capitol, you will find Majority Party and Minority Party caucus rooms build into the structure on opposite sides of the chambers. Was this just a reflection of an historical assumption? Or does this partisan duality serve our state? I’m working on these answers. Let me know what you think.
The presidential election outcome is for me an anomaly in this scenario that provides some small hope. Mr. Trump was not a branded member of the Republican party, though he eventually took over their brand. We’ll see where this re-branding goes. Voters embraced his “maverick” positions and rhetoric even as simplistic, xenophobic, and misogynistic as they were. I don’t think they valued his statesmanship qualities, or his budget details; such does not inflate his media hype. Indeed, many of his supporters knew his promises were empty, and will not hold him to “building a wall”, “locking her up” or “draining the swamp”. But voters in the presidential election wanted to throw out the status quo, and that candidate just happened to be a Republican. I believe they also wanted to throw out the political party domination of our political process. But Idaho voters wanted their legislature to be more of the same, very one party dominant. Or so they voted. Or did they just carry their anger farther down the ballot?
I am in the process of deciding whether the civic work one does has any bearing on ones value to the civic process, or are we just playing politics? Does the electorate vote on issues, or are we just picking sides? If so, then I believe we have stopped listening to our values and instead voting on our fears. Maybe we in public office have failed to communicate these values. Public servants should foster civic engagement, not pander to fears and promote bias. But then, I loved Wile E Coyote’s innovations, perseverance and grit. But I doubt many would vote for him.
Of course, there could just be the simple truth that I was out of touch with my constituents and did not represent their values, or at least the values of the 50.8% who showed up to vote against me. Indeed, in this election I got more votes than ever before; but still lost. Maybe they just saw me as a no good coyote that needed to go. Beep Beep.
All comments read but not posted.