Jul

31

(Your) Leadership in Our Democracy

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Friends,

As we begin work today, across the U.S. we are down to 99 days until the election. 36 governors will be elected. One-third of the United States Senate. All 435 members of Congress. And state legislators in many states. Here in Michigan campaign finance reports came out on Friday. The amounts being raised and spent seem almost obscene, and the totals will climb. The great majority of spending by congressional and statewide candidates will be directed at television ads — 30-second spots — designed to send a message and evoke a response, often an emotional one. A local reporter chided me in the last week for saying in one breath that I thought voters were smarter than people think, and in the next breath saying that these ads have already had a huge impact. I don’t see the contradiction. TV will influence many. Yet thoughtful discussion will move a relatively few, yet hugely important group. So much in our democracy turns on the discussions that thinking people have. I don’t mean that some people can think and others can’t. We all think. I mean that some will get engaged and actively engage others, while too many will not be touched, challenged, or engaged in the questions that will dictate who will lead them and how.

It’s up to each of us as citizens to decide whether we are ready to turn our leadership over to the victor in the battle of political spots or get ourselves informed and bring others into dialogue about where we should be heading. As you’re watching ads over the next three months, consider getting off the couch to live the democracy that we champion to the world. Enter the public dialogue, and

Lead with your best self, Dan

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