Lessons Learned

One evening last week I attended a “meet and greet” hosted by a neighbor of mine who’s running for a local republican precinct chair.  The event, held in a neighborhood coffee shop, was to introduce one of the republican candidates running for state representative for my district.  For this post I thought I would share some of my astute (ha!) observations from that event.  Please note that anything resembling lecturing here is directed at myself, because I need it.

First thing:  the dismal turnout.  Now, in defense of my fellow Texans I think it’s only fair to point out that game six of the World Series had been re-scheduled to that night and it featured, of course, the Texas Rangers.  In addition it was raining, and many Texans have forgotten how to drive in such alien conditions after a long summer of drought (plus they were never good at it to begin with).  Nevertheless, I would generously estimate the turnout at about ten people.  This in a city with perhaps 40,000 residents.

That lackluster attendance underscored the uphill battle we face as republicans.  We talk about restoring this country to the vision of the Founders, yet many are unwilling to invest a little time to vet and support the candidates and, sadly, to even exercise their right to vote.  I’ve heard that a 5-6% turnout of the electorate is not uncommon in many elections.  In the meantime, thousands of dimwits are literally camped out in our cities to fight for their right to ruin this country.  Complacency is our worst enemy, and if we cannot overcome that when we are on the verge of disaster, then it’s doubtful we ever will.  It is not enough to have our hearts and heads in the right place.  We must act.

The next thing that struck me about the event was the fiery divergence of opinion in this small group supposedly gathered for a common purpose.  During his talk the candidate extolled his success in spearheading the failure of a ballot measure that would have allowed liquor stores in his city (which, by the way, borders my city which also has no liquor stores).  This evidently struck a raw nerve with one lady.  She demanded to know why a conservative would be “anti-business,” and then proceeded to berate him rather than letting him answer a good question.  This raised the ire of another lady who was clearly on the anti-liquor store side, and the two gals proceeded to hotly debate the issue.  For those of you hoping to hear a blow by blow of the ensuing wrestling match, I’m sorry to disappoint you.  Instead, one charming woman (okay, it was just me) opined that she would like to actually hear the candidate’s answer to the question, and the meeting was restored to order.

What I found disturbing about the exchange, aside from the rudeness of co-opting the speaker’s venue and turning it into a debate over the sale of liquor, was the sense of entitlement people can have about getting their way.  After all, we live in a society where we routinely must deal with the fact that citizens have competing interests.  There was, in my view, no constitutionally protected right at stake (no one necessarily has the right to convenient access to liquor; nor do others necessarily have the right not to be exposed to behaviors associated with easy access to liquor).  Each lady had a valid position.  The purpose of having a system where we exercise our wishes through elected representatives or, in some cases, by direct vote, is to resolve these types of issues peacefully.

My final observation has to do with the candidate’s answer to the “anti-business” charge.  I am naturally suspicious when people appear overly anxious to micro-manage their towns and cities, and besides that my husband likes whisky and complains when he has to drive 30 minutes to buy it (you can buy wine and beer in the grocery store here so I’m all set).  The candidate’s reasoning was this:  when a city in Texas votes to change its charter to allow the sale of liquor it then becomes the state’s sole privilege to issue licenses.  The city then has little control over how many licenses are issued and, except for a law prohibiting liquor stores from being 300 feet from a school or residence (I’m paraphrasing from memory here), they have little control over the location of these businesses as well.  So it was, in his view, an issue of local control versus state control.  Furthermore, the issue was poorly worded on the ballot so that people weren’t likely to clearly understand all of the ramifications of what they were voting for.

I was impressed with his answer.  It showed him to be a thoughtful man who was well-informed on the issue and who understood the necessity of looking at the broader picture.  The important lesson I took away is this:  principled positions do not go along well with knee-jerk assumptions, and we should not allow convenient formulations (i.e.: conservatives = pro-business) to be a substitute for thinking or for doing our homework.  The secondary lesson comes from Stephen Covey (“The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People):  “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” 

Just before she left the angry pro-liquor store lady shook hands with the candidate, and she was smiling.