Our run-off elections in the 3rd Congressional District and Benton County Judge’s position will be history when this is printed in the newspaper, but the lessons we can learn should be worth remembering. Who wins in those two races will largely be determined by voter turnout of the candidate’s supporters in the primary election. If your candidate did not make the run-off, it can be easy to ignore the responsibility of getting educated about the best choice of two candidates that you didn’t originally support. However, before we turn away from politics and prepare ourselves for an exciting summer of fun, I would like to stress a few points while they are still current.

The three words - politicians, politic and political - are all related, but the definitions as defined in my Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary are much more helpful in clarifying my distaste for what goes on in the political arena than I had realized. Political defines the area of “making government policy as distinguished from the administration of government policy.” That is safe enough. However, the term politic is defined in partas “characterized by shrewdness in managing, contriving or dealing.” And, the word politician has definitions that include “experienced in the art or science of government,” those who are engaged in “party politics as a profession,” and finally the one we need to give some serious thought, “a person primarily interested in political offices from selfish or other narrow, usually short-term, interests.” This is not intended to imply I believe all political candidates are bad ... but !!

Point number one: We need to add these definitions to our inventory of yard sticks when we evaluate our candidate choices. By that I mean we need to accept the fact that the environment the winner will be exposed towill be political, with a lot of politicians (as negatively defined above) trying to change them. The question is once again, “can the candidate we are supporting maintain his or her integrity and fulfill their campaign promises inthat environment?” This is extremely important, particularly for those we send to Washington.

Point number two: The T.E.A. party movement was not as effective in our 3rd Congressional District race as many thought it would be.

There were numerous “independent” groups organized, the size of the membership generally unknown, which never mounted a serious threat to the “prevailing system.” It appears the vote by area of candidate recognition was pretty much as expected. The T.E.A. party effort will not go away, the dissatisfaction with the Washington system is too great. However, a new leadership will need to carry the party into increased recognition of its purpose and increase active membership before it will have a significant impact.

Point number three: As mentioned frequently in these articles, the party (either Republican or Democrat) does not guarantee the character or qualifications.

My personal experience has been that either party is mostly interested in just winning to keep its legislative strength intact. When we hear as we have heard recently about the Democraticparty trying to protect incumbent senators, there is reason to question how far the major parties are willing to go. In local elections, the party committee at the county level (either party, since both parties have them) discourages running against an incumbent IF the incumbent has been an active member of the County Committee. It helps if you work your way up through the county party ranks before becoming a “serious candidate.” If you want “their” cooperation, it is best not to be too independent. We have granted this authority to the County Committee (again, either party) by blindly supporting the party financially and with our “party vote” without being involved in the activities of the local organization. We need to recognize this fact because it is very much a replica of how the national party (either Democrat or Republican) works. Howelse could Sarah Palin command a $50,000 fee for speaking at Republican events?

◊◊◊

Leo Lynch, a native of Benton County has deep roots in northwest Arkansas. He is a retired industrial engineer and former Justice of the Peace. He can be contacted at prtnews@ nwaonline.com.

Opinion, Pages 4 on 06/09/2010