A Pointless Rant On The Art Of Politics

By Tom Tillison
Florida Political Press

This is little more than a rant, serving no real purpose other than to make me feel better once complete.

I received a press release today from the Adam Hasner campaign that highlights a statement from National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R-TX) applauding Hasner for making the decision to run in the 22nd Congressional District here in Florida.

Sessions includes in his statement, “We’ve been actively working with Adam to recruit him to run…”

And this is where I get real annoyed.

Now I grant you, Hasner is well suited to run in this district, very likely the best option the GOP has to hold the seat in the 2012 election.  My beef is not with Hasner per se, in fact I wish him well and hope to see him emerge victorious.

What irks me is the duplicitous nature of politics, where politicians readily accept pandering and stretching the truth beyond the breaking point as just tools of the trade.  Yet, to the layman, the average citizen who tries to live a life based on honesty and decency, these actions resonate in a far more negative manner than elected officials realize.

Which explains why the latest Rasmussen Reports poll shows that 70% of Americans feel Congress is doing a poor job, 46% think most in Congress are corrupt and 35% say a Congressman can be bought for $10,000 or less.

So what provoked this rant?

I recall sitting directly across a table from Rep. Pete Sessions, who looked me square in the eye and said with certitude, “We do not get involved in primaries, we’ll let the people make that decision.”

This happened right here in Orlando back in the spring of 2010 at a meeting Sessions had requested with the tea party.  I responded with a look of skepticism, to which he answered, “What, you don’t believe me?”  I said, “As a matter of fact, no I don’t.”   It was a good-natured exchange between us with no animosity, just frankness on my part, which he was receptive to as he continued trying to convince me otherwise.

Now, almost two years later, that meeting seems like a lifetime ago.  I’ve grown a lot from a political standpoint since that day and while still naive in many ways, I’m not the rube I was then.  As it turned out, not too long after that meeting I came to learn firsthand which races the NCRR was involved in and exactly who they were supporting behind the scenes.

The Sessions statement in support of Hasner served to remind me that House Majority Leader Eric Cantor just endorsed Hasner in his run for a House seat as well.

After being endorsed by the tea party group FreedomWorks, Mark Levin and Erick Erickson of RedState and being readily identified as a tea party candidate in his Senate bid, I couldn’t help but wonder how many “tea party” candidates could lay claim to having Sessions and Cantor in their corner?

Granted, this doesn’t rank up there with “I was for it before I was against it.”  And, again, this is not an anti-Hasner rant.  I’ve met Adam Hasner, I personally like the man and hope he does well.  I will even support him in his run in anyway I can.

It’s about the lack of honor and integrity within the political process and the need for something better, where your word actually means something and truth matters.  Where political expediency takes a back seat to personal respect and distinction.  A longing for leaders who want to be judged first and foremost on the content of their character.

Hell, I guess I’m just as much a rube as I ever was… and this was supposed to make me feel better?

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