Balance Returning?

With the Aurora, Colorado shootings the presidential campaigns cooled a bit. That’s a good thing. They had turned rather sour and bitter. Never a good thing in national politics, although there are those who delight in bitter fights among the pols.  Unseemly I think.

I believe more is accomplished by two things in campaigns: honest statements of positions on issues as well as clear thoughts on what you’d do if you won the office. And secondly, positive respect of voters and the office sought. Trashing the other candidate is poor form. The voters can see for themselves who is coming off as the most honest and innovative public leader.

Pretty simple really. As a candidate you are saying you want the job you are running for and here’s what I will attempt to do if I am elected. Meanwhile, the voters are good people capable of making sound judgments on candidates, and because of that, we as a nation can move forward confidently. Positive. You see?

Instead we have a candidate who twists words of his competitor.  Example: Romney turned the President’s comments upside down. Even the press thought Obama had misspoken. Rather not!  Here’s what Obama said: the economy is not a creation of a business person or an investor. They take the opportunity presented by the presence of many assets they did not provide and turn it into a business.

For example, did GE build the Internet? Did Motorola build the Interstate Highway System? Did Exxon build the system of sewer and water systems that operate throughout the nation? Who built the schools? Who formed the universities? You get the idea.

Public infrastructure and society’s major assets are provided by historical accumulation of what we all invest in. Mostly government, by the way. The only time public infrastructure was championed by private enterprise was when they spotted the chance to have a monopoly and charge outrageous prices! And often they did that with government subsidy. Think the national railroads. But if you think they are the only ones, think again about trucking firms using the infrastructure of national roads, bridges and safety systems such as lighting, traffic signals and police patrols. Think also of the airlines.

No, private entrepreneurs did not build the system. We all did. Sometimes in concert; often in opposition to one another. But almost always with public money.

The very definition of democracy is cooperation, sharing of workloads, discussing the issues in the open and voting on them. Making decisions together. Taking a leap of faith in the future and investing both private and public dollars in the elements our nation needs in order to reap the benefits.

As President Obama has said:

“We built this Country Together. We built the railroads, and highways; the Hoover Dam, the Golden Gate Bridge together. We sent my grandfather’s generation to college on the GI Bill together. We instituted a minimum wage and worker safety laws together. Together we touched the surface of the moon, unlocked the mystery of the atom, connected the world through our own science and imagination. We did these things together not because they benefited any particular individual or group, but because they made us all richer. Because they gave us all opportunity. Because they moved us forward together as one people, as one nation.”

Well said Mr. President!  And a million points of leadership was needed in all of those accomplishments. Leadership from elected people, and investors, and workers, and voters, and too many to list. Leadership. Hope. Followership, too. But together. All of us.

The past accomplishments have been great. We are called on to continue the tradition. It is what makes us American.  Now. Let’s put a happy face on that! And a positive spirit.

Please require our candidates to do the same. Good attitude. Respectful. And offer innovative ideas for us to consider moving forward. We need solutions. Not insults.

July 31, 2012