Wednesday, July 21, 2004
ah, the pandering...
We're starting to see the poli-speak come out in waves now. It seems we have dozens of candidates here in District 5 who are pro-business, pro-housing, pro-education, pro-policing, pro-neighborhoods, pro-environment, and pro-public transit. Wow. Who knew?
Of course everyone is for all these things. So is every San Franciscan, to one degree or another. What I'd want to hear from candidates is not things they agree with, and --amazingly-- I don't even want to hear about their innovative new ideas... because San Franciscans have ideas all the time. What I'd want to hear from my candidates is what makes them think they can actually get any of this stuff accomplished, and what sort of experience they've had in the community on the subjects they're referring to.
That's why, if I do say so myself, I feel comfortable as a candidate in District 5. I've worked on (or worked with the leaders of groups who do work directly on) just about every one of those issues, either at the extremely practical end, or the community end.
More importantly, I've shown I can work with the many different perspectives and personalities in these different subject areas, and can work to find solutions if they aren't already in place.
Come on people, don't let candidates get away with 'self labeling' themselves. Ask them 'what have you actually done about that?'
