Well we are a year away, but not only is the presidential campaign going full bore, here in Massachusetts we have a senate race starting up as well.
Last night while on my way to a gathering, I tuned in to the local NPR station to hear a debate between the local field of wannabe senators.
First complaint: NPR, when broadcasting a debate on the radio, please do not assume that everyone has tuned in at the top and knows who is talking. I listened for 20 minutes and I have no idea who was there. This is kind of important. Apparently they were pointing to the candidates to cue them to answer. I think Elizabeth Warren was in there, and by geometric logic I think Scott Brown was in there, but the others, their names were not mentioned.
Second complaint about all of our political debates:
I think it’s wonderful that these people are so jingoistically dedicated to truth, justice, and the American way, BUT . . . Instead of asking broad questions about philosophy that more or less ask, “if you were absolute dictator, what would you do?”, how about framing the question as “as a freshmen senator that has only one vote in a body of 100 senators, and no power to chair any committees, how would you leverage this one small piece of power to get your priorities served, if in fact you could do much of anything if you end up as member of the minority party?”
We all love freedom and justice, and I think the need for more jobs is fairly obvious to all concerned. The real question is, with the limited power granted one single person in our bi-camera constitutional government, how will you get it accomplished?
The road to our current situation was paved with good intentions, and as always, the devil is in the details.
© Justin Locke
