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To: Applicants to represent the people of the 4th Congressional District Fr: The Voters Re: Hiring a Citizen Statesman to represent us in Washington D.C.
With the retirement of Congressman Doolittle, we appreciate that you, as a candidate, have applied to be our federal representative. We will be examining your record of public service and accomplishments carefully. Given the poor performance of the U.S. Congress in recent years, we have upgraded our criteria for who should be hired for the job. Over the next several months and before we vote for candidates in the June primary and the November general election, we will be closely monitoring your actions on four items:
1. Run a Clean, Issue-Oriented Campaign. Your political consultants
will tell you over and over again that only negative campaigning
works. People vote against someone, never for someone. The
consultants will write slick mail pieces and television ads that never
tell the whole truth and thereby unfairly demonize your opponents.
Fire them. Rise above and be nobler than our current gutter politics.
Before succumbing to the temptation to attack your opponent, ask
whether our Founding Fathers pledged their “lives, fortunes and sacred
honor” so that you could gain political office through dirty tactics
and destroying the reputations of other candidates. Ask whether our
soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines buried in battlefield cemeteries
across the globe and in oceans deep gave their lives so that you could
degrade our civic discourse. Simply tell us in a positive way why you
are the best candidate to be our representative. 2. Serve a
Limited Number of Terms. There is the old saying, “Some people run for
office to be big, others run to do big things.” The only way that we
can be sure that you are running for the right reason – to thoughtfully
craft national policy – and not just for the ego-trip, is if you make a
promise now that if you’re elected that you will serve no more than
four 2-year terms. Staying in Washington D.C. too long, buying a home
there, hobnobbing with wealthy lobbyists, and becoming a career
politician, is corrupting. You are human and it will gradually happen
to you. You’re not indispensable so don’t treat the Congressional seat
as your property. Start your term of office with the attitude of
fighting everyday for 8 years for good national policy. Then, go on to
do something else that is mission-based. 3. Hold Town Meetings
and Debates. As our federal representative, we expect that you will use
your best judgment in how you vote and in what legislation that you
introduce. But we also expect a statesman’s humility from you and that
you will continually listen to what your home district is telling you.
Listening only to the D.C. Beltway echo chamber will give you a false
sense of what the public really thinks. By holding public meetings in
your district, you will learn new things from your constituents. Talk
to people from the other political party. And by debating your
opponents every two years, you will be expected to defend your votes
and refine your positions on important public policies. That is a part
of our republican form of government. 4. Tackle Big Problems and
Advance Reforms. We are not sending you to Washington D.C. as our
federal representative to bring back pork projects. The earmark process
in the U.S. Congress causes huge and wasteful spending and corruption.
Take a “no earmark pledge.” Instead, spend your time crafting
legislation that is important to your district and the nation. Conduct
oversight of federal agencies to make sure our tax dollars are spent
wisely. Work to improve our national security, balance the budget,
strengthen the economy, provide cost-effective and high quality medical
care, enhance fire protection, and protect our environment for future
generations. This is a tall order. But we expect you to dive into it
and give it your all for 8 years. The voters should choose you
based on your record of accomplishment in serving the broad public
interest. What are you seeking to accomplish in Washington D.C.? Do
you have the proven skills and record to give the voters confidence
that you will be serving America’s interests and not your own? In
a speech to the Illinois Legislature on January 11, 1837, a tall, lanky
legislator named Abraham Lincoln told his colleagues, “Politicians are
a set of men who have interests aside from the interests of the people,
and who, to say the most of them, are, taken as a mass, at least one
long step removed from honest men. I say this with the greater freedom
because, being a politician myself, none can regard it as personal.” To
the applicants who wish to represent the voters of the 4th
Congressional District, don’t be a run-of-the-mill politician. Be a
citizen statesman. The voters of this district deserve no less. Kevin
Hanley serves on the Auburn City Council and as Chief Consultant on
health and insurance legislation with the California Legislature. Send
your comments to Kevin at
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