Last night on c-span I watched some of a presentation by Jeff Golden about his book “As If We Were Grownups: A Collection of Suicidal Political Speeches That Aren’t.” Has anyone read that book? I don’t know anything about Golden – sounds like he does a radio show, has been elected to local office and is pretty progressive in his politics.
I was really intrigued by what he said and would love to hear what other people think. As I understand what the book is about, he is saying that its time that politicians talk to us like we’re grownups and can understand the hard choices we face. While I REALLY agree with this – I also know that its pretty idealistic.
Golden also said something in response to a question that really has me thinking today. He said that if we want politicians to treat us like grownups – then we have to act like grownups. And this means that we need to support people we agree with 90% of the time – even when they vote against our wishes that 10%. In other words, we can’t be single issue voters and have to be willing to look at the big picture. It reminded me when, as a Minnesotan who thought that Paul Wellstone was my ideal of a politician, I had to wrestle with the fact that he voted FOR the Defense of Marriage Act. There is no way I would have abandoned by support of him over that – but it was difficult. But how far do we go with that?
Any thoughts out there about whether or not those running for office can dare to treat us like grownups? And how do we act more like grownups to encourage that?
