Campaign style
Wednesday, April 30th, 2008“I want to campaign the same way I govern, which is to respond directly and forcefully with the truth,” ~ Barack Obama, 11/08/07
A campaign is very much a serious facet of serving—a campaign is not a “holding pattern” that is a prelude to “landing.” It’s about preparing for a good take-off. That’s the style of campaigning that I look for.
So, when candidates list their “qualifications,” or cite their established record as incumbents seeking re-election, listen carefully to if they’re just prattling on about maintaining the status quo, or worse, staying in a caretaker mode— as we see here to a great extent in local County Governments across Indiana—perpetuating a syndrome where local governments are stuck in a dysfunctional pattern of only “reacting” to crisis—instead of pro-actively averting or preventing crisis. (Making come true the ol’ annoying adage, “If you always do what you’ve always done you always get what you’ve always got…” and who thinks that makes sense? That’s also the definition of insanity!)
Ask of any candidate, “What have you done for me lately?”
Then ponder the promises being made by the candidate—particularly asking local candidates about juvenile justice issues, re-entry issues, and their depth of knowledge about environmental issues…ask them what they know about the current realities of creating a budget that soundly reflects progressive values…and, finally, ask them about their sense of optimism and faith in the possibilities of effective government being realized…
I had a great time visiting AM1370 WGCL to speak with Darryl Neher yesterday for the Afternoon Edition: you can hear audio of the interview by visiting my campaign website, scroll down the homepage, and click on the link: Sophia for Commissioner
Nice callers with stimulating questions called in—I hope you’ll give it a listen!
You’ll also find audio of WFHB’s Daily Local News coverage of the Stoops/Travis Press conference at Sophia for Commissioner covering the latest news of our opposition to the new-terrain NAFTA highway I-69 route.
WFHB Community Radio for South Central Indiana can be tuned into at these frequencies:
91.3 FM | 98.1 Bloomington | 100.7 Nashville | 106.3 Ellettsville
Their Daily Local News program can be heard Monday through Friday at 5:30pm.
Okay, folks, tonight OBAMA!! How exciting!!