Would you want your kids running for public office?

[TrepMan]

OK first, those who don't want to discuss this, just don't read this post OK!!



Now, with all the usual digging and mud-slinging with the Presidential election a few months away, got me to thining about the question "Would I want to hold public office or have one of my kids, in today's political scene??"



You remember when we were all kids and a lot of us would say "I want to grow up to be president!" Well, after reading all the mud slinging on both sides for President, not to mention the NASTY stuff I read/heard during the primaries, I honestly don't want me or my family going through the PAIN. And it's a SHAME, because I think serving the general american public as an elected official SHOULD be something that everyone could aspire to!!



If I ran for office, YES there are skeleton's in my closet from my teen/college years that I KNOW a nasty opponent would dig up! Would it effect my views and ability to lead/serve in an official elected capacity - NOPE, but I know that it will not stop folks from digging things up. I watch local county commisioner elections,and see opponents bringing everything from marital history, housing history (who got a good deal from a developer on her house) and so on... That's not even the nasty stuff, like who did drugs in college? Who had an affair? Who got a $10 free lunch from which developer or such...



I don't expect my kids to be 100% pure as driven snow as they grow up! Will they make mistakes, YUP and hopefuly they'll learn and grow.



So, what do the rest of you think?

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Ahhh....People care about that crap less than you think. Everybody's human Politics are so bad anymore though that my uncle who served two terms as Mayor of Celina Tenn.(BTW..the youngest mayor elected in Tenn. history at the time) could have had a larger role in politics and finally just got fed up with the "red tape" to get anything done and you'd be surprised the "friends" that come out of the woodwork with their hand out

 

[Christopher Laurencio]

I think mud-slinging is not effective, and does not have the much of an influence on how people vote. I think the pain/shame is part of the sacrifice of being a public official, so yes If my children wanted to be public officials I would not deter them.

 

[TrepMan]

Tee and Chris - I would agree that the majority of intelligent voters would NOT care about the mud slinging. BUT, I have seen WAY too many very qualified candidates drop out of a race when some tid-bit of personal history was raised that has NOTHING to do with the position the person was running for. They drop out to keep their family out of the lime light, and to protect their family. I think it is just a shame that it happens!



I mean come on, unfortunetly a LOT of our elected officials are NOT in politics to "make the US a better place to live", in my opinion. A lot of them are in it for the "power", the under the table $$, and so on!!



Yes - we NEED good quality and moral people in public office. BUT, I think WAY too many of the RIGHT (not speaking politicaly here) people have not or will not run for office because they do not want to subject their families to the "media" and political machine spotlight.



I mean lets use me as an example. Let's say I run for Local/State Board of Education under the Libertarian or republican party, claiming a desire to make a difference and have a specific platform. Someone does some research and snooping and finds out (all hypothetical examples of course), OH NOOO, Mr. Trepper actualy DID inhale in College!! OH NOO Mr. Trepper DID have pre-marital relations with those women!! OH NO Mr. Trepper DID rent an X rated movie or 3 over the years!!!



And the following get's put into the press:



The HORROR, do you want this immoral, drugie, pervert deciding YOU'RE children's public education policy!!!



Now, i'd have to explain to my almost 5 and 7 yearold why people he does not KNOW or know me are saying these things!! Nope, I don't think i'd want that pressure on my family right now.



Just an opinion of one guy looking at things somewhat jaded today...

 

[Texas Transplant]

They would nail you on the junk food/snack test. Can't trust anyone, that has purchased and eaten that many ding dongs, ho-ho's, twinkies, crackers, etc.



And to boot, he's a moonshiner!



Have a great weekend.



Tex

 

[Rich D]

Who keeps letting these perverts on the board? LOL!!



Rich D

 

[Christopher Laurencio]

He probably started this post to get his disclaimer going for when the news comes out!

 

[Tom Jones]

I can see the headlines now....



KING TIN RIDES IN GLASS BOAT

He flip-flops his loyalties...



KING TIN INTO PROSTITUTES

Source sees him eating Ho-Ho's....



"TINMAN" HAS NO HEART

PETA claims he's a lip ripper...



I don't think I could handle it!



Tom

 

[Christopher Laurencio]

And he was born in NJ!

 

[Larry Harp]

I think he's French too.

 

[Christopher Laurencio]

French? Does he shake a lot?

 

[TrepMan]

GEEZE I can't go away from my PC for an HOUR with out you ALL going BONKERS!!!! LOL





Chris - "does he shake a lot?"?????

 

[Christopher Laurencio]

You know the old saying, "I was so cold I was shaking like a french soldier"



BWA HA HA

 

[Greg Meyer]

Seriously... My Father, Grandfather and Great Grandfather all held elected office... My Father was a Member of the County Board for 28 years... 22 years he was the Chairman of the Highway and Finance Committees...in a rural county... that made him a very important elected official. I am very proud of the way he served the public... Just some of the very innovative things he did would be a long list.



But, as I watched, I saw politics above the local level deteriorate into a "money game". My son is a paid part-time Legislative Aide to a State Senator who will be the next Republican Candidate for Governor of Illinois. And, he is becoming very disillusioned at the "dark side" of politics...fund raising. The money issue and the scrutiny of a candidate's personal life and the personal life of his family have me hoping that my son will forever stay on the periphery of politics. It keeps me from ever taking more than a "background" role.



I tend to think that the last "gentlemen" are fast disappearing...my father's generation are simply a hard act to follow... He and an uncle both received combat wounds and neither of them bothered to seek or ever receive a Purple Heart. Hmmmmph... what a difference a generation makes...



Unless we get the big money "out"... And, until we get a real "fair and balanced" media... until we return to a real division between news and editorial reporting... politics will be the realm of the very wealthy mediocre candidates... Lee Iacocca might have made a great President... Bill Gates, too Who knows? Certainly, unlike the 1770's when the best and brightest (or so it seems) led the government... we do not attract them to government service... we drive them away.



I usually don't like getting older... But, some trends make me glad I won't be around to see the way it is going...

 

[Rich Stern]

Trep, I've thought the same thing many times.



It's a case where the marketing (elections) has destroyed the product (public service). Few of us are perfect. Yet that does not mean we couldn't be good representatives for our fellow citizens. But to get to that position, you have to sell your soul.



We have so badly devalued honesty in our society, we no longer hold each other accountable for simply being truthful. And why should we? For $300/hour, you can find a lawyer that will help you successfully lie and cheat to nearly any desired result.



For example, I am sure a lot of you are familiar with the teaser marketing that goes with cars, vacations, time-shares and many other products. That type of "selling" is creeping into all aspects of marketing. Yesterday, I got an offer in the mail from Earthlink. The two page flyer highlighted that I could get DSL for "just $19.95 a month." After careful (and I mean really careful) reading, I finally found the fine print that said the $19.95 was for two months, and thereafter the price would be $39.95. How dishonest is that? Wouldn't it be more honest to simply say "first month free" or "half off your first two month?" Of course it would. But lawyers, courts, the SEC, the Commerce Department, politicians and all of us, allow this dishonesty to go on. And every day, we accept it, and it slowly corrupts us all just a little bit further.



Sad.



I don't know if it will be presented in our lifetimes, but there's a bill coming due for our collective lack of integrity.

 

[TrepMan]

Greg - thats' what i'm talking about, we had a great business man running for office here in GA (Can't remember his name, thought Rich I bet will as he was President of the Great American Cookie Company) and tried to run on business ethics, good policy and the like - nope didn't win. Yes, it was a LOT different even in our parent's generation, and as i've said i've seen the local county commisioners races get ReALY nasty!!



Rich - I was waiting for you to jump in. While we've never talked directly on this topic, I figured you'd be a "kindred" spirit. It realy is sad, that as you say "the marketing (elections) has destroyed the product (public service)." Each year of late in my mind the voting has realy been the "lesser of many evils" in the Senate, House and Presidential races. Its not about which party or person ReALY has the best policy and goals to suit you're tastes/needs as defined by our founding fathers, it's more about which one will do LESS damage to the goals of the consitution.



I know I listen to a lot of Neil Boortz, and a little of Sean Hanity (occationaly Rush), and across the board I do NOT agree with any of them even 75% of the time. So I research, I read, I listen, I talk to others, and I hope that another candidate will POP out of the woodwork!!!



Oh and one more thing, and I know that a majority of the folks who post here are Republicans but do NOT take this as a blanket slam on the Democrats, BUT... In the same vein of who would want to put their family/personal life through the mud slinging, what's with the "ABB" concept?? Anybody But Bush! Come on, how does one party and more importantly the individual voters actualy believe that ANYONE would be better then a current President. Again, what that tells me is there is a LARGE part of society that does NOT read, does not LISTEN, does NOT research candidates. All they know is on certain issues they do NOT like or more correctly they HATE the current President and they want ANYONE in his place. That's scares the bejesus out of me, honestly!!



Trep



P.S. Rich - If you get the AJC today, check out the 2 letters to the editor on page A13 upper right column under the heading "Presidental Election", both these writers seem to nail it on the head. For those who don't get this paper the titles of each I think say enough "Important Issues get little attention" and "Voters entitled to be educated".

 

[Greg Meyer]

My wife and I got hooked on watching this "reality" (as if its really "reality") show...Who wants to MArry my Dad...



Periodically they would hook the contestants up to a "lie detector" (polygraph...on which I have a real professional opinion...but that is for another thread) And grill them... Always unexpectedly...



That's what I would like to have attached to every politician evry time they campaign... And the "Truth Police"... Someone that could step forward, identify themselves and say... we just have five questions for you please sit down and let us attach all these wires and probes...while the whole world watches the operator say thums up or thumbs down on your answer...



Again, I am not rating the pros or cons... but do you really, really think that John Kerry or George Bush has any idea of what it's like to have three kids and a mailbox full of bills and realize you are staring at your last unemployment check and no job in sight... Or, if either one of them have ever "budgeted" so they could do something or bought something... Saving money to them is the result of making it so fast that you can't spend it all, no matter how hard you could try...



What I find almost laughable is the reality that few are really aware of.... The "VAST-HUGE-TRUCULENT (almost immobile)FEDERAL BURUEACRACY" (let's get Tox to tell it from a real perspective)... Really, yes, a President, Senator, Congreeman, gets the TV cameras... But come on the President gets to make a few thousands of appointments out of MILIIONS of "jobs"... Ambassadors and Secretaries of State come and go but the "State Department" exists... At best, it is a tail try to wag the dog... to effect real change. And, probably that is good... if the electorate make a bad choice the "administration or congress" can't do a whole lot of damage because real change takes time...



I mean come on... yes we are creating record deficits... And, the Democrats can cry "foul"... But, if they really objected and felt in their hearts that it would destroy the economy...why not exercise their muscle in the Senate... They can stop an appointment of a Federal Judge, they certainly can stop a spending bill... But, they don't really object that much because they made a "deal" not to stop the budget or spending bill... Maybe that Polygraph gets hooked up to every elected official and the truth polic e get to run around in the White House and the Halls of Congress...



Or, maybe, just maybe, we start "growing" Americans who value "integrity and honesty"...



John Wayne, Spencer Tracey, Gary Cooper and Henry Fonda couldn't play the part of any current politician today... we expected them, the actors, to portray "heroes"... not sleaze... De Niro, Nicholson (who has) are right for the roles because we accept them as sleazey... That says a lot...



We are fearfully drifting farther and farther from the philosophical and ethical roots that gave birth to this, the Greatest Nation, ever. There will be a price paid in the future if we cannot return to that path. Somehow we need to educate the coming generations of the value of those principles and we need to corral government back to a system of services for the people... One without the other won't fix the peoblem...



My three principles for a "fix". A universal belief in traditional American ideals and principles, representative democracy, religious freedom and a government separated from theology, equality for everyone ( a very easy to say but tough to define and then deliver concept), integrity, honest and selflessness, etc. A truly (and I cannot emphasize this enough) "fair and balanced" news system, responsible "non-partisan" reporting with competing "partisan" editorial comment. And, get the big, corrupting, money out of politics.



Utopia... a place somewhere in Kansas.