It is an even numbered year and campaign season is in full swing along this, the most conservative stretch of Old Route 66. Although this particular corridor of the Mother Road may be a microcosm of the rest of the USA, the shade of red it sports makes for a louder than average echo canyon for conservative candidates. From the beginning of primary campaign season, all the GOP hopefuls for nearly every state office have incorporated into their campaign ads seemingly obligatory slams levying blame on the “career politicians” who got our state into the mess it is in. Most also proclaim themselves to be “non-politicians” and “political outsiders” as if being a novice at governing counts as some newfound pristine conservative virtue. I am sure there are voters at whom these ads are aimed that are willing to swallow this meme without question. As a citizen who has been bearing the brunt of mismanaged and incompetent conservative governance for now the better part of a decade, I have to call this out as an insult to the intelligence of every person capable of critical thought regardless of political stripe. Every single one of the people serving in that legislature is by definition a term-limited non-career public servant. The office of Governor is limited to two terms and the incumbent, who has previously served as a state representative, Lt. Governor and Congressional representative is terming out. She may meet the loose criteria of being a “career profession politician” but it took a damned sight more than her own doing to do to the people of Oklahoma all the GOP-controlled legislature demanded through radical legislation over the past eight years.
One GOP candidate for governor insists that the hard times imposed on all of us Oklahomans are the sole fault of the “career politicians” in Oklahoma City. In his ad he correctly describes the problems created by inept policies although he conveniently omits the fact that all those crafting the legislation that got us in the crapper was the work of “non-career legislators” of the Republican persuasion who had supermajorities in both chambers enabling them to write their own ticket. He is seeking to carry the banner for his beloved OKGOP while playing the “proven-business-leader-political-outsider” card for all its worth:
This is but one example among many available in the local milieu of a concept playing out in grand fashion on the national stage. The politically cheap argument that one person’s ignorance is just as good as another’s knowledge has been with us since in some form since the founding of the Republic. It however did not become mandatory national subtext until a Cult of Personality pulled off the ultimate political coup and now controls the Executive Branch of our federal government. The sad thing is since a campaign largely consisting of smoke, mirrors and BS succeeded beyond the wildest dreams of the current occupant of the Oval Office, political hopefuls down-ballot in his party are making maximum use of what now appears to be an accepted winning strategy for their ticket. In addition to demonizing the political savvy that goes with a career in public service, how is electing someone who will be functioning at their level of incompetence should they win at the ballot box a good thing for their constituents? I have seen more than a couple of the sorts of people who have sold their candidacy on their Christian conservative business credentials and later admit to disappointment when they are confronted with the ugly reality that government is not a business and requires cooperation and consensus with people they may not like and with whom they don’t agree not to mention a hushed subservience to the moneyed interests that control their caucus leadership. A reasonable concern is that if the business outsiders who think they are better than those “career politicians” they seek to replace succeed this year and take control of Oklahoma government next January, where will two and four more years of failed policies leave us here in Oklahoma? The most conservative stretch of the Mother Road honestly cannot suffer broken government much longer.
Facebook memeRegardless how badly candidates of any political party malign it in an effort to better their own electability, public service in holding elected office is an honorable and worthwhile occupation. There is certainly no shame in majoring in political science in college. Over the past forty years not only has “big government” gotten a perpetual bad rap from conservative America but all government has become every conservative’s favorite scapegoat. What can be said about career critics who condemn government as having failed the citizenry then get elected and then prove it? We have seen all we need to from the OKGOP to make an informed decision in 2018. The Republican choices on the November ballot can be summed up in one sentence: MORE OF THE SAME. With few exceptions there are Democrats running for office up and down the 2018 General Election ballot in Oklahoma. Democrats may not be perfect but they have candidates with qualifications appropriate for the offices they seek, specifically:
Governor: Ten years of government experience as the state’s Attorney General.
Lt. Governor: Former state senator.
Attorney General: District Attorney for Logan County.
Insurance Commissioner: Former insurance agent.
Labor Commissioner: Retired UAW union shop steward.
Superintendent of Instruction: PhD in Education.
It is hard to make the case that these examples are not suitable for the office they are seeking as all will be ready to assume duties of said office upon taking their oath.
As a lifelong resident of Oklahoma who has been voting since the 1978 General Election (voting via absentee ballot most of the time given I was serving in the Navy out of state until twenty years ago), I remember some lean times and occasionally some tough times but I never remembered any repeated revenue failures and a perpetual state of budget crisis until we elected Republican supermajorities in both chambers at the Capitol and an all GOP state administration. I also remember several dedicated career politicians who knew how to do the job they were elected to do. Given that incumbency favors reelection, there was a lot frustration by opposition candidates who repeatedly tried unsuccessfully to unseat many of those long serving career senators and representatives. That was the impetus behind the movement for legislative and state office term limits. Scandal hamstringing a few elected career politicians made an easier case for more of the voting public to support term limits. In truth, term limits was the only way many challengers could win. For nearly two decades now we have been governed by term limited non-career non-professional legislators and state officers who wear their “non-career politician” status on their sleeve as a badge of honor. That in and of itself would not be much of an issue if the results that system has produced were not so abysmally bad for so many of the people they were elected to serve. Never has the future of our state and nation depended on a return to basic sanity in government the way it has in 2018. This begins with getting the most knowledgeable people into elected office where they can operate the necessary levers of government. A focus on performance instead of career choice might be a good start. We can use career politicians who know what they are doing in making the executive and legislative decisions that impact all of our lives. I shudder to think about the damage all the well meaning amateurs will leave in their wake.