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Happy rainy Golden Spike Day. On May 10, 1869, 136 years ago, a golden spike was driven at Promontory, Utah, marking the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in the United States.
New Era for GOP in SL County
The Salt Lake County Republican Party has new leadership, is getting past the scandals in Salt Lake County government, and has removed most dissidents from any meaningful positions. So now what does it need to do to get to the real business of a political party – winning elections?
County party activist Dana Dickson, who has been instrumental in helping the party get back on track, has a great deal of confidence in new county chair James Evans and the other officers. He believes they will focus on three things: 1. Continue to rebuild the party’s image and win the trust of average Republicans after the county scandals and fights with dissidents; 2. Focus on the party infrastructure, especially recruitment of an army of grassroots workers, so the party is of real assistance to candidates; 3. Continue the party’s successful fundraising, which has been led by young fundraising whiz Jeremy Roberts.
More NCLB Publicity
Another national media outlet and a national think tank have weighed in on Utah’s rebellion against federal No Child Left Behind. William Schneider wrote a column in the highly-respected National Journal (paid subscription required) expressing surprise that Bush-supporting Utah would lead the charge. The Cato Institute supported Utah’s position in an op-ed piece mostly on federalism grounds.
Blog Watch
The New York Times is doing a lot of soul-searching lately and an internal panel has made recommendations on how the paper can build credibility (see story). One recommendation is that the paper be more direct and forthright in defending itself from outside attacks. The paper gets hammered frequently by conservative bloggers, especially during campaign cycles, and it generally has ignored the attacks. The panel recommended that the paper defend itself, perhaps with its own blog.
Arianna Huffington’s group blog, The Huffington Post
is now live and running. It features news and blog posts by hundreds of interesting figures (mostly liberal) in politics, entertainment, business, the arts, and the media. Posts have already been made by John Cusack, Walter Cronkite, Jerry Brown, Ellen DeGeneres, Russell Simmons, Mike Nichols, David Mamet, Michael Isikoff, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Brad Hall, David Corn, and Marshall Herkovitz on a wide variety of topics.
Reader Response
States Can Do the Job
Ric Cantrell, assistant to the majority leadership in the Utah Senate, is a federalism devotee, as am I. In response to the Pignanelli-Webb column in the Morning News, he wrote: “In Sunday's column you said, ‘But I think Congress in general is a mess. It has lost the ability to deal with the most pressing problems facing society.’
“Unless you count the Postal Service as a pressing problem, it's only infrequently that Congress has the ability to solve the 'most pressing problems facing society.' Congress rarely has the legal ability to do so. Of course you would only get this sort of comment from a federalism revolutionary. But, to me, it's worth thinking about.
“State government has the knowledge base, constituent connection, local concern, and the democratic accountability to tackle and solve tough problems in a way consistent with a republic that values freedom and responsibility. Your column may have intended to address another subject, but it was pretty convincing advocacy of returning power to local folk -- who are smart, capable, concerned, and accountable.”
I couldn't agree more with Ric’s observations. In the mid-nineties when I worked for Gov. Leavitt, we spent a lot of time on federalism issues and there was some support in Congress for devolution. Today, hardly anyone even bothers to pay lip service to federalism, and that's a shame.
Leadership Tip
Avoid the ‘Savior Syndrome’
People run for office or get involved in public policy for many reasons, but usually among them is a desire to make the world a better place, make a difference, and support good causes. Sometimes it is a particular issue or cause that is the biggest motivating factor, and sometimes it is a variety of things.
Once in office or appointed position, there is a temptation to get involved in too many good causes, thus diluting one’s effectiveness. Just read one day’s newspaper and you’ll fine dozens of inviting causes needing your help -- wrongs that need righting, issues that need addressing, inaccuracies that need correcting, injustices that demand attention.
Many people attracted to public policy are do-gooders by heart, and they have a hard time ignoring these causes that need a champion. After all, they are in a position of authority to do something about it. They have a bully pulpit.
But it is a mistake to be caught up in the “savior syndrome” and go chasing after every issue that comes up. Part-time officials, particularly, just don’t have the bandwidth to take on every problem or injustice that occurs out there. It’s better to choose your battles carefully, focus energy on a few good causes, and limit activism to issues where you can really make a difference. Otherwise you can be pulled in so many directions that you lose effectiveness. |
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