Guest AuthorThe legislative session is over and the fall elections are in full swing. I saw the first yard signs this week and heard that the West Central Florida area is ground zero in the governor’s race. Already, terms like “fraud,” “phony” and “crook” are surfacing as candidates speak of their opponents.
I am already tired of the negative, cheesy and underhanded political ads aimed at pulling opponent candidates down. And, the political season is only in its semi-annual infancy.
Whatever happened to campaigning with positive commercials and candidates building themselves up instead of tearing their opponents down? Or maybe candidates would talk more about themselves than about their opposition.
What about the old picnics in the park where people got to meet the real candidates, not those made up for mass media consumption? What happened to exchanging a handshake for a vote?
Personally, I think the American people, like me, are fed up with 21st century campaigning, where the real winners are the people who sell the airtime and produce the media.
I am sick of the high cost of campaigning where it is so money driven. Sadly, he or she who spends the most usually wins. As Will Rogers once said: “Politics has become so expensive that it even costs a lot of money to be defeated.”
The flood of money that gushes into American politics is the pollution of democracy. The system has run amok. But, removing money is like taking jumping out of basketball.
When I was in the Florida Senate, I chaired the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee. The CEO of every bank and insurance company in the state had my number on speed dial. Their high-powered lobbyists were often in my office.
Isn’t it amazing that those people wouldn’t take a call from me the day after I left office? I thought they really liked me!
The cost of elections has dramatically escalated in the 14 years since I left office. How sad it is that we have the best government that money can buy.
I believe the grass-roots voters are fed up and ready for a change. If I were running again, I would try something different. I would announce that I was taking no corporate, PAC or lobbyist money.
I would build a podium in the back of my pick-up truck, get a good sound system and then go and do fundraisers and friend-raisers in the parking lots of stores, gas stations, post offices and the like.
I would talk straight about the issues, not wax eloquently with mini-sound bites and political rhetoric. I would tell people who I really am and what I really believe, even if I knew they would disagree.
I would meet the voters face to face, not hiding behind their television screens. I would politely answer their questions and not be shielded by political handlers.
Then I would ask them for the honor of their vote and give them in exchange the honor of my solid word to do after the election what I say before the election.
People are more apt to vote for someone they disagree with on some issues, but whom they can respect for their open-mindedness and integrity. Be honest with people and they will be honest with you.
But how do you raise money with that type of campaign? Well, I would put a bucket on the tailgate of my pick-up and collect money in 5s, 10s and 20s. After all, if I were running for office in a district with a half million people, all I would need to mount a respectable campaign would be an average of five bucks a person.
I believe that people would give that or more to elect a candidate beholden to no one other than the people he or she would represent.
And how would I spend that money? First of all, I would not engage mega-buck Madison Avenue or Beverly Hills producers who would put together commercials to compete with Super Bowl spots.
I would simply sit in front of a camera, thank people for letting me come into their living room and tell them who I am and how I will vote for them before they vote for me.
People are tired of their vote being a commodity to be purchased by the highest bidder. They know it to be a sacred right of a free democracy and they want to cast it responsibly.
Oh, God, in this crucial election year, please raise up candidates of integrity who would represent the people alone, for such a time as this.
That’s my opinion and I am sticking to it.
John Grant is a political columnist who served twenty-one years in the Florida Legislature. He can be reached at [email protected]. Column courtesy of Context Florida.
