Running for Office?

Greed? Ego? Power lust? Or what?

There are a lot of reasons a person runs for public office. Often, they spot an opening in the public’s sentiment and decide they can attract enough support to win the office. But I have a question for each of them: What changes are you going to bring to your constituents? Do you understand the limits of power in the position? Do you truly know what problems are blocking progress toward a better quality of life for your constituents? Are you familiar with all of the problems, or only a few? Finally, what is the timeline for the changes you wish to make?

If you do not have a program to press forward, then you are an empty-headed politician focused only on power and greed for yourself. History has proven this over and over again. It is the shame of all democracies. The lowest common denominator appears to be in control. How sad. How very sad.

Another candidate announces his intention to unseat current Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. What does he bring to the race? Why should anyone support him?

Lori Lightfoot is a breath of fresh air. She has tremendous smarts about government, justice, US and Illinois Constitutions. She sees the future and wonders why we have not claimed it yet. Details, details, all stand in the way of immediate progress. But she is working on them. She has a staff that is working on them. All she lacks is cooperation and collaboration of Chicagoans to move the dial of progress forward.

Americans tend to see politics as a sport. Who’s on top? Who’s coming up the runway? Who can topple the incumbent? Will this change affect me? Will we have more problems or fewer?

Chicago has a lot of problems like most large urban areas in the country. It takes resources to make a dent in any of them. Resources include people power – staff, innovative thinking, supporters, colleagues in the government trenches like the incumbent – but mostly resources include powerful visions of the future that people can get behind.

If candidates only speak of other candidates in negative tones and message, they are not fit for public office. The conversation should only be about the vision of what can and should be. Often the leader and the public are on different planes of understanding these issues. But honest conversation can fix that in a hurry.

It takes our cooperation to buy time to study and understand the issues that matter. It takes collaboration from all of us to build solutions that will last. Politics should not be about today and the week ahead. It should be about what we all want and need 5 to 15 years from now.

With a running start we can achieve these lofty goals. Without the ideas, all we have is a crappy public argument over personalities. And that argument blocks the progress we need and deserve.

Shame on us! The noise continues. Not the hope of the future.

June 16, 2022

 

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