To me, one of the most sickening things about politics is the team competition nature of it. It's always Team A vs. Team B. Screw what's good for America; what's good for me and my team?
Check out this story about the 2006 congressional race between incumbent Chet Edwards, a Democrat in Republican territory, and Van Taylor, some punk businessman from Dallas. To give you a bit of a summary, Mr. Taylor is looking for ways to connect Mr. Edwards to a vicious campaign ad hoping to inspire Democrats who oppose the Iraq war. Mr. Edwards, however, is well-known for his support of veterans. Mr. Taylor's attempt to connect Mr. Edwards to the ad is nothing more than team-based strategy.
Consider: Chet Edwards has done a lot of good for Central Texas: He's fought to save Waco's VA hospital; he's thoughtfully represented Central Texas since 1991. (Seriously: check out his record.) In our society, there is no more trustworthy politician than the one who acts thoughtfully. You can't trust them to do what they say they'll do because life's just too complicated for that. I say--get a representative you like and stick with him or her, at least until s/he starts acting unthoughtfully and instead with the team mentality. In our society, so overloaded with information, we can't make decisions based on what's best anymore, just on whether we're satisfied with what we have and whether we need something better.
Central Texas and the 17th District ought to be satisfied with Mr. Edwards's representation. Van Taylor doesn't deserve a chance just because he happens to be Republican and happened to have moved to a Republican-dominated district.
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