I have no designs on public office, and given my strange history, I’m sure some political consultant would say that’s probably for the best. But if I was going to run for office, I would make the following promises:
1. I will never let the practice of my religion impinge on your freedom to practice yours. Just because my religion allows for divorce, I would never make you have one. Just because mine is pragmatic, if not happy, about a woman’s right to choose what to do with her body, and believes that contraception is just fine, doesn’t mean that I would make you have an abortion or use birth control.
2. I will never knowing lie to get a vote. I am a lefty-liberal, tree-hugging, feminist, Euro-socialist and I’m fine with that. I’d no sooner try to color my past to suit an audience than I would, well, run for office. And if I change my mind about an issue — for instance, I’m of two minds about marijuana legalization — I’ll explain myself. If I used to be against it before I was for it, I will tell you about the process I took to get to my new place, and own it.
3. I will never claim credit for influence where I have none, or for events that had nothing to do with me. Presidents have nothing to do with the price of gas and little influence on private sector employment.
4. If any of my colleagues say or do something reprehensible, whether criminal or not, I will call him or her out and not blindly stand by for the sake of politics. People misspeak, and there are undoubtedly circumstances in which such mistakes of language can be forgiven. But that’s dependent on many factors, such as the intent, the tone, and the character of the speaker. Some people deserve second chances. Some don’t.
5. I won’t promise to do things. I will promise to try to do things. Because what you can achieve politically is determined by how many allies you have and how many people are arrayed against you with the sole desire to thwart your idea, regardless of its merit. Further, I promise I will not blindly be against whatever someone else suggests just because it’s not my idea. I’ll evaluate the idea based on how my constituents feel, my own moral compass, and the potential costs and benefits of its implementation.
Life is too short to lie about who you are, what you think, and what you’ve done just to get a job. And if you do, you should be fired, just like you would be if you were found to have embellished your resume to get a corporate gig.
I’m not going to run for office. It’s a nasty business currently run by and filled with people who will prevaricate, dissemble, double-speak, and every other synonym for lie just to get on an interest group’s good side. Frankly, I think there should be a law that makes blatant lying during a political campaign illegal. If you can’t prove it’s objectively true, don’t say it.
But I’m not going to run for office just to see that law passed.
If you were going to run for office, what would you promise?
