For a couple of months, I have been getting my feet wet in local politics. I’ve actually dove in. I’m not running as a candidate, but I’ve fallen into being a campaign manager for an incumbent County Clerk.
What I’m finding out is there is a lot more to this “Politicking” than what meets the eye.
Beyond the mechanics of it all there is the personal. My shortcomings are highlighted for all to see and for me to admit. A steady diet of “humble pie” self served and self digested is the diet of someone in my position if they want to learn.
As in my other or previous position (construction), a steady stream of excuses can be heard. To utter them is human, not uttering them can stretch the limits of my abilities. Although that is a good thing, it is not always pleasant. Perhaps seldom is a better adjective to use.
As in construction, the end result seems to make all the “work” worthwhile. The job well done giving that quiet satisfaction which is what is so important in my sense of knowing that what I do matters. With that comes the contentment with my self.
The problem is that I am a rookie in the political game. I have no results to judge what to do. If one learns from one’s mistakes then I have some good lessons to learn.
This blog, This “Bottom Up” thing has already given me glimpses of where I want to go in the political arena. The idea of making people matter again in politics, of making sure I understand that and practice it as I go forward. There is a morality here that I must understand and keep for use as a guide. Will what I do really help. Once I get past all the great sounding rhetoric will I be able to feel that contentment from a job well done? The sense of well being from knowing I did all I could?
I don’t know. I haven’t finished anything yet. To do that will involve many compromises. I will need to stay focused on what is the Wheat and what is the Chaff. This country’s greatness is based on that concept. The concept is easy, the practice is another matter altogether.
As I see and imagine in “big time” politics, it is pretty hard to sit down with your opposition and find common ground in order to get the job done. I once blogged about “Common Ground” and “Good Ground”. “Good Ground” is a military term denoting a piece of ground giving you the advantage to beat your enemy. (what is good ground for Me) “Common Ground” is not a military term but a symbol denoting the areas upon which all sides can agree. That area around which we can form some agreement upon a course of action which will be of a benefit to the country. (What is Good Ground To Us.)
That is the art of compromise, that is the art of politics. Finding that “Common Ground” Again an easy concept. A very hard practice. Perhaps as in art there are naturals. I’m not, hopefully I can learn as I go. I am learning however that I don’t have to be that “wonderfully social butterfly”. That is a blessing lol. That is progress.
One of the main lessons I’m learning is that Truth and Honesty go a long way. People open up to me if I do both. They start to talk instead of making speeches.
I have taken months to figure this out. If you think that is a long time to figure out the obvious then, well go ahead. You see the other thing I figured out is that if I am content and feel as if what I am doing is right, then I will continue doing just that.
Kind of a “Build Myself and I Will Become“.
Regards, Live Dangerously Be A Conservative
PS below is a pretty good face for local politics. lol I had a part in it.
No comments:
Post a Comment