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Memo to Snyder: Don’t stop the radical reforms now!Choose your perfect Congressman!
November 6th, 2009 | 
Author:
Dan Sherrier
The 2009 elections are over, thank goodness, and next up is an opportunity to reshape the House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate.
So the main question is: Who do we want in our House?
Unfortunately, we cannot elect Captain America, on account of him being fictional. What would be the next best thing?
Shame we can't have him.
Excluding political ideology, here are the qualities that I believe would make for a great Congressman:
1.) He doesn’t want to be there.
There are about 50 billion other things he’d rather be doing, but someone’s got to serve the district. If nobody better is stepping up to plate, he throws his hat into the ring–not because he sees any personal gain in doing so, but because it’s the best option for his community and country (which does benefit him, too, but not only him.)
He lacks the desire, but not the willingness. He feels he should put in a term or two, maybe three at the most, and then he’s ready to return to his life.
The selfless part of him realizes the necessity of good people serving, but the selfish part of him secretly hopes he loses the election.
This man won’t buy your votes with earmarks or empty promises.
2.) She’s lived a life and succeeded in a career.
The perfect House would contain a wide mix of individuals with a variety of experiences. It should include people who have run small businesses, people who have run large businesses, attorneys, doctors, cab drivers, artists, scientists, veterans–people from all walks of life.
The ideal representative doesn’t need to bring a specific type of work experience, but she needs to have done something with her life before serving. She needs to have held a job and learned skills that would benefit the Congressional team as a whole.
She understands that politics is not a career, but a service. You do your part and step aside for new ideas. She didn’t just graduate school and jump straight into a purgatory of never-ending campaigning.
Prior to her election, she spent time pursuing her own happiness in her private life, and she grew as a person while doing so. In fact, she’s already found that happiness, so she wants to return to it before too long.
3.) He has read and will uphold the Constitution.
He doesn’t have to think it’s perfect. He can certainly propose an amendment somewhere along the line. But he recognizes that the Constitution is the law, so he does not propose legislation that’s incompatible with it.
He respects the document, and feels no disdain toward it.
4.) She’s incorruptible.
No one’s perfect, but some people are strong-willed. She needs to possess the strength of will to resist temptation when it’s staring her in the face. She respects the taxpayers enough that she would never abuse their money for her own personal gain.
She’s not in this exclusively for her own sake. Heck, she even wants to reduce some of the existing Congressional perks. She looks at the six-figure salary and thinks it’s too high.
How is she incorruptible? She holds values that mean more to her than her own monetary gain or ambition for power. She won’t do anything that will prevent her from being able to look her family and friends in the eye.
Character counts.
5.) He realizes that money is a finite resource.
The federal debt concerns him, and he wants to work toward reducing and eventually eliminating it. He understands that we shouldn’t be indebted to China forever. Actions have consequences, and this includes spending binges.
6.) She has an above-average understanding of U.S. history.
As great as our country is, mistakes have been made. She needs to have learned from them. No sense repeating the errors of the past.
*******
I may have overlooked something, but that’s a good start. Obviously, in addition to all this, we each want someone who shares our precise spot on the political spectrum.
Please note that I mentioned nothing about ethnicity, religion, or gender. These do not factor into making someone a great Congressman. These sorts of diversity neither hurt nor help.
It doesn’t matter if the Congress is all male, all female, all white, all black, all Hispanic, all Asian, all Christian, all atheist, all Jewish, etc. You can have a great Congress with any ethnic, gender, or religious composition. What’s more important is a diversity of occupational experience. Let’s not have all lawyers, but we should have some, for example–and anyone of any personal background can become a great lawyer.
For those of you who are unsatisfied with your current Congressman, now is the time to start thinking about a replacement.
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One thing is for sure. Your article does not fit the description or resume of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Barney Frank or Chris Dodd.
I wrote this list when asked by two of my friends on Facebook. In recent days, these folks and I have had very little to agree upon in current political events, and our recent conversation has been “spirited” and how! They asked me to list what (and who) I was looking for in political leadership. Such a list would inform them of my thought process, and the underpinning of my analysis of issues and happenings. I thought the request was honestly made, though some might attempt some manipulative advantage from reading this. The exercise was easier than I thought, and surprising, as unspoken half-thoughts were finally expressed, completed, and cataloged.
I expect many will have opinions different from mine. I suppose some of these items are frankly poisonous with regard to electoral success in our current political climate, at least at the National level.
1. Does the person seeking my support have an abiding, comprehensive, and unblinking understanding of the exceptional, and possibly unique nature of the American form of government, and the culture that produced it.
2. Do you respect the Constitution, as written, as well as our other founding documents. This particular quality is characterized by confidence, humility in the face of the wisdom of the men who wrote them. It is also characterized by confidence when these founding principles are compared with the hottest, hippest contemporary political ideas.
3. Do you have an appreciation for real, hard work, without regard to the type. Some politicians try to fake this, using bromides, cliches, and other types of political theater. Authenticity here is hard to counterfeit. I am looking for someone who appreciates hard work, appreciates diligence, and appreciates circumspect behavior, especially in the personal financial realm.
4. I am looking for representatives/leaders who speak plainly, but whose passion and understanding are not simplistic. If someone speaks what they ‘think’ I want to hear, I know it instantly. Even if I agree with your words, do not speak to me according to some ritualized, pre-planned, focus-grouped strategy; tell me what is in your heart. Do not think you can manage me; you should speak to me man-to-man. You should mean what you say, then stop talking.
5. Does your rhetoric match your life? Is the life lived in concord with the speech?
6. Do not lie to me about your plans, if you wish to have my support. Do not use sugary words…ever. Do not change your speech patterns, inflections, or the content of your message to match the demography or expectations of your audience of the moment. If your message and/or its delivery are maleable, and changeable, it means everything else is also, including your truthfulness.
7. I have done the job, both appointed and elected. I know most who serve in elective and appointed positions are there for the right reasons, but some are not. Do not expect your version of “God Bless America/Georgia/Whatever” to impress me.
8. If I cannot agree with your description of the problem, I am not gonna agree with your proposed solution…you talk first, I’m listening.
9. Do you hear what I am saying? Or are we just here for you to fill up the time alotted with your words? There are too many seeking political office whose eyes glaze over when others, esp. constituents, speak…makes me bats**t crazy.
10. Are you smart enough and tough enough to do the right thing, even when it is not popular (esp. among the ‘ruling class’? I don’t care one hoot in hell what your ‘goals’ are; if it takes freedom or earned wealth away from the ones who pay their own way, it is evil.
11. At your core, do you understand that it is not your money? If you gain the authority to take earnings or wealth from another, for the purposes of funding the government, do you even have a clue what it took for them to have those dollars in their pocket in the first place?
12. Do you have any idea just how motivated a man or woman becomes when they perceive your plans may harm their children? Does that knowledge ever make you scale back your ambitions? Do you respect their feelings? Prove it.
13. Do you think the Government can pick winners and losers? When you attain elective office, whose idea of fairness does the Constitution give you authority to enforce.
14. Sometimes the right answer is: “Don’t just do something, stand there!” You will never win my support by telling me how many ways you spent the confiscated earnings of my neighbors and relations.
15. My opinions are my opinions. I resent anyone who feels comfortable refereeing my principles. If you don’t like how I stand on a particular issue, that’s cool with me; when you think it okay to call me names, or label me with some perjorative, I find your behavior arrogant, stupid, lazy, and effete. All you have to do is ask me to elaborate… you may be surprised.
I have a list in my head of a few people in public life I think live out at least some of these qualities. So far, no one is batting 1.000…I am still watching.