Schoolhouse Rock songs and cartoons helped shape the minds of many
Generation Xers. If you do not believe me, call out "I’m just a bill"
to a thirty-something friend and s/he will respond "on Capitol Hill."
Those fun-yet-eccentric messages played a part in making sure I voted
at my first opportunity-in 1992-and in nearly every election since.
While some play down the issue, this most basic of civic lessons has
been overlooked by California’s Republican nominee, Meg Whitman. I
have serious reservations about her non-voting record and feel there is "a better way."
Despite being one of the most essential of civic duties, voting can
also be one of the most easily abandoned in our busy lives. It is
understandable that we miss elections from time to time, perhaps in off
years or simply when suffering from voter fatigue.
To use a campaign
term, not everyone is a coveted high-propensity voter. That being said, however, should we not call for a higher standard
when it comes to our elected officials? If seeking national leadership
or the highest office of the state, is it unreasonable to expect that
s/he takes the time to vote? Some may not be enthused about the
youngest, and perhaps soon-to-be oldest, governor in the history of the
Golden State, while others question whether he has the "Eye of the
Tiger," but at least Jerry Brown has a record to run on, casts his ballot on a
regular basis and does not shy away from taking a position.
There were some important elections in Meg Whitman’s 28 years of non-voting – questions about the direction of our country, the kind of state
California aspired to be and perhaps most galvanizing in recent
history, the Recall Election of 2003. To be sure, we live in a
capitalist society-or the free market enterprise system as some like to
say-and there is nothing wrong with being a captain of industry, but
why would someone who clearly benefited from our economic policies not
even bother to cast a vote for the system of government that provides
such opportunities?
A favorite song of mine is Ben Harper’s "Better Way" because he asks "What good is a man/Who won’t take a stand/What good
is a cynic/With no better plan/I believe in a better way." It makes me
wonder what good are candidates who run for high office but never took
a stand on anything along the way. I am mindful of the Oliver Wendell
Holmes, Jr. refrain that Bobby Kennedy used in his public speeches: "…as life is
action and passion, it is required of a man that he should share the
passion and action of his time at peril of being judged not to have
lived". I do not know Whitman personally and applaud her success in
business but her lack of passion and action suggest she has not really
lived.
One of the must-read elder statesmen of Capitol columnists is Sacramento Bee’s Dan Walters. It used to be that his argument that California was essentially
ungovernable was cynical. And whether you follow the clips on Rough
& Tumble or have read Joe Mathews and Mark Paul’s just-released
California Crackup, it is now a growing consensus. Labor Day weekend is still seven
weeks away-the time when most campaigns kick into overdrive-but I
expect the conventional wisdom to be, despite the validity of Walter’s
claim, that it will take someone familiar with the levers of government
to institute reform rather than another Republican first-time office
holder. The learning curve is simply too steep and the problems too
challenging for on-the-job training.
"I’m Just a Bill" and "Conjunction Junction" are probably the two most
popular Schoolhouse Rock episodes for kids that grew up in the ‘70’s.
But "Sufferin’ ‘til Suffrage," which came out during Governor Jerry Brown’s first term, still has some poignancy:
Not a woman here could vote, no matter what age,
Then the 19th Amendment struck down that restrictive rule. (Oh yeah!)
And now we pull down on the lever,
Cast our ballots and we endeavor
To improve our country, state, county, town, and school.
The
United States did not pass the 19th Amendment until 1920 but next year
is the centennial of Proposition 4-the measure Californians voted on to
grant women’s suffrage. Regardless of whether California is
governable, I will-to paraphrase Schoolhouse Rock-cast my ballot and
endeavor to improve our state. One of the best movies about California
politics is "The Candidate" starring Robert Redford using the slogan "For a better way: Bill
McKay!" Perhaps there’s a better way with the one who has taken a
stand and "lived" all these years-the one whom the movie was supposedly
based on: Jerry Brown.