BENTON COUNTY — Hopefully if you take time to read this and have read other articles over the years, you will bear with me as I try to share my understanding of our political system, the changes I think have taken place and what it really means to me. As age has taken its toll on the physical body, years have also brought about a different perspective on many things including what my value system is based upon. Just going to the polls so I can feel as though I have done my civic duty by voting is no longer adequate and it is much easier on the “sunny side of 70” to see the mistakes we can make by casting an uninformed ballot. That by no means is intended to tell anyone what is right and wrong, but if we fail to put our own principles to the test before we make a decision about the candidates, we can, I believe, make a most grievous mistake.
As you perhaps know, I have been trying to share my experiences concerning politics since the early years spent on the Quorum Court. My personal perspective on politics took a severe shaking as we were faced with decisions which required me to work very hard not to let personal interest interfere with my responsibility to those I represented. And, there were numerous opportunities where the decision to “follow the crowd” wouldhave been easier and certainly made me a lot more popular.
Because this pressure is a part of our local political scene, it is much easier for me to understand something of the situation our elected officials must feel in Washington, D.C. In Benton County, most decisions were for amounts under $100,000 while the folks in Washington seem only to understand terms in billions of dollars. Adding 1 percent to a bill in that range is some serious money, hence some serious pressure to be a “cooperative member” of your political party, if you want to share some of that 1 percent with your financial supporters through earmarks.
All the preceding is to say that I view political campaigning and political ado much differently than I did 30 or so years ago, prior to my Quorum Court experience. It is a result of that learning experience that my faith in our two political parties, and the power they wield over the individual elected officials has given way to skepticism. I don’t think we need more Ivy League trained politicalleadership, but do believe the system will work quite well with some strong Independent individuals who believe in the same principles as the men and women that founded and fought for this nation.
If you look at campaign contributions given to politicians in any state, it is evident that the candidates and their party are tied to the sources with money. To very large corporations, the influence wielded by the successful candidate can be instrumental in the company’s growth and financial success. Having a new drug approved rapidly can add millions of dollars to a pharmaceutical company’s bottom line. Awarding a military airplane contract to a specific producer of airplanes, engines or major components is equally important to companies in that field of manufacturing.
And, the list goes on and includes a lot of less obvious products and services - think Blackwater in the security business.
All of this has convinced me that I can no longer “go with the flow” of just supporting the party candidate blindly. You are welcome to tell me I am wrong, but for me to keep sending the same people back to Washington when they seem tied to the political apronstrings of the moneyed few seems to fit the classic definition of insanity. If I just keep contributing towhat I see as failure, I am not being true to myself or my future generations.
My responsibility is not to accept the TEA Party approved candidate as blindly as I have accepted the Republican choice but to evaluate all candidates representing parties and independents and select the one that best fits my criteria for that position - local, state or federal.
As I watch the political ads aimed at us voters by the two primary party candidates for the Arkansas U.S. Senate seat, my senses are being numbed by the claims of “look what I’ve done for you!” Could it be that they have done all these glorious things for the same people who have paid for the ads through their PAC and company contributions? Nowhere do any of the ads offer to work to reduce the effects of those campaign contributions by sending them back and going face-to-face with the voters. And, neither of the two primary party candidates seem inclined to work for term limits.
The Independent candidate, Trevor Drown of Russellville looks better all the time.
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Editor’s note: 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 [email protected].
Opinion, Pages 4 on 09/15/2010