We Get What We Vote For

Like any political nerd, I love election years. The drama, the excitement, the staging, the speeches, I like it all. I am a sucker for soaring words about what’s possible. Elections can be a period of renewal, reminding us for what we stand and helping set a vision about how to tackle the obstacles standing in the way to our collective greatness.

Stop snickering; a good debate over issues can be both healthy and interesting.

As the Republican Convention wound down in Tampa last week and the Democrats began to gather in Charlotte this week, I began to grow concerned the high-minded was losing to the lowbrow. The candidates were going to choose character assault over vision building. Having determined the easiest way to amass votes was to tear down their opponent, they were opting against the more arduous task of inspiring people to aim higher. Campaign 2012 was beginning to make even this nerd weary.

I have been around politics for most of my life. I accept the well-proven fact negative campaigns work – fear sells, to a point. However, 2012 began with that. Too many candidates appear to be stuck in a nonproductive cycle of blame, smear and repeat. It is time for the candidates to put the mud down.

Nerds and non-nerds alike need to hear what candidates will do should they win. Saying the other guy is miserable is rarely a strong foundation upon which to build a victory platform. Americans are looking for leaders interested and capable of doing the job.

Theodore Roosevelt said “It behooves every man to remember that the work of the critic is of altogether secondary importance, and that, in the end, progress is accomplished by the man who does things.”

I have always liked that quote both for what it says and because it includes the word ‘behooves.’

As we enter the home stretch of this political cycle, both the nerd and the patriot in me remain hopeful the candidates will spend more time talking about the future and less about how bad the other guy is.

Don’t misunderstand, it can be important to draw distinctions between what one candidate has done or will do and what the other’s record or plans are. That is the healthy and interesting debate I talked about earlier. But, that is entirely different than a candidate standing at a podium and degrading his opponent without offering an alternative.

I like what John F. Kennedy said; “I look forward to a great future for America – a future in which our country will match its military strength with our moral restraint, its wealth with our wisdom, its power with our purpose.”

We need candidates who are committed to this, who are willing to pursue and capable of constructing a vision to take us there.

In the end, the candidates rise to the expectations of the voters. It is a cop-out for me, for any voter, to accept this election year is lost – that modern campaigns are not capable of producing strong leaders. We get what we vote for. If we cast votes for those who finger-point and run on fear, we shouldn’t expect much from them when they assume office.

I do expect much and I know America is capable of even more.

The tenor of this campaign can change, but will only do so if we Americans demand something different.

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Graham Gillette can be reached at grahamgillette@gmail.com 
This entry was first published as a Des Moines Register online essay.

A Mild Chris Christie Kicks-off GOP Convention

I can’t help myself. Chris Christie has a paradoxical affable bravado that makes me like him. He strikes me is a guy who believes what he says and who seems to enjoy a messy skirmish. The Romney campaign brought out the tough talking New Jersey Governor on night one of the convention to stir up the base. Christie delivered on that, but he did little else.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie 
Republican National Convention
Tampa, Fla., Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012. 
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applwhite) / AP

A national party convention is mostly made up of the true believers. They sit on the edges of their seats antsy and ready to jump to their feet, cheer, wave signs and look with tear soaked eyes into the cameras. A speaker needn’t have Christie charisma to get a standing ovation from this crowd. An audible “we are the USA” from the meekest of speakers can get a convention crowd chanting USA for five minutes.

That’s why I thought it odd Christie had to prod convention goers at the end of his speech with “It’s now time to stand up. Let’s stand up. Everybody, stand up!” These are not words you generally hear from a convention speaker.

Maybe my expectations were too high for Governor Christie’s speech. I was looking for red meat inspiration. What he delivered was something along the lines of we are better than they are. OK, but you need to give the throng a little more excitement and those at home something to remember.

George W. Bush must have cringed when talking about the nation’s economic woes Chris Christie not so blithely said, “It doesn’t matter how we got here. There is enough blame to go around.” Fair enough and Christie made a the point by following up with, “What matters now is what we do.”

Yeah, but “how is what is being offered different than Bush” went unanswered by Christie.

In fairness to Christie, it is tough being the first pitcher to the mound for convention baseball. The nominee’s agenda is not yours. You are not there to talk specifics. You are supposed to set the stage. Christie did not falter, but I doubt he did much to boost the Romney candidacy.

Maybe it won’t matter Christie was tamer than expected. Vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan takes the stage next. Convention goers should wear comfortable shoes tonight. There will be a lot of standing and cheering even if Ryan decides to read the phonebook. He won’t. The question is will he connect with the crowd outside of the Tampa Bay Forum.

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Graham Gillette can be reached at grahamgillette@gmail.com 
This entry was first published as a Des Moines Register online essay.