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The Argument Against Publicity

A common argument for those running for office is that they must first have lived in the public eye or else they must immediately get themselves there by any means possible. It is the "name recognition" argument and suggests that one must develop a high-level community profile as a prerequisite to campaigning. This, unfortunately, is the same logic that motivates people who are good at getting in the limelight for whatever reason to conclude that they are also fit for public office. It can also lead people to do pubic service simply to be known, to meet "the right people," and so forth.

The party system and its machinery of trading name recognition for politcal favors begets candidates who hop from office to office because of a desire to get to the top of the ladder rather than to excel at the office they are currently in. Their names become part of the same old deck of cards that gets shuffled and reshuffled every time a state office opens up. "Who do we choose from now?" - "What card will come out on top this time?" - more of the same. At worst, some personalities hop from office to political office because, having experienced power, they now accept that a legitimate purpose of government (so long as they are in charge) is to control other people' lives and cut deals. They become do-gooders or "social engineers" instead of guardians of personal liberties.

My argument is that being an unknown is neither a virtue nor a vice; it is candidate's ideas, persistence, and a willingness to serve (rather than control) that matter. A desire not to serve to advance one's own personality helps. To that end, an ideal candidate would limit the numberr of terms he or she serves, advance the notion of limited government and personal freedom and responsibility, vote "no" as often as it took to be a firewall between government's limitless appetite and your wallet, and then gladly retire to normal life.

A candidate should be neither interested in or enamored with becoming the funnel through which government goodies are given away, or sitting in judgment over what lucky few get a few pennies back in exchange for the hundreds or thousands of dollars they send yearly to the bloated federal government. Oklahoma should have a representative who will work to reduce the size and scope of the federal government in order to let people keep more of their own money, prosper economically, and live freely according to the choices they make and the goals they pursue to fulfill their lives and enrich the nation they leave to their children.

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