My Conservative Values Statement
Kevin E. Dayhoff
March
22, 2001 / April 17, 2001 / June 16, 2002
http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/2015/01/my-conservative-values-statement.html
“The difference
between Cannibals and Liberals is that Cannibals eat only their enemies.” -
attributed to LYNDON B. JOHNSON, in the 1960’s
I recently received a phone message from
a good friend and colleague at the leadership table, who shared with me, that
at dinner the other night, one of his guests had speculated that there's a
chance I'm too liberal. Yes, you read
that correctly. It's the "L"
word - in print, no less. And yes,
there's that immediate question…'too liberal' for what? Too liberal for Westminster? And who really cares?
Who in Westminster overwhelmingly cares
about political ideology - except for a couple political ideologues, whose
constituency lies well beyond the scope of Westminster's world?
Westminster citizens care about real
day-to-day issues. They care about quality
of life, taxes, police and fire protection, trash pick up, schools and local
employment opportunities… George Will,
Bill Clinton, Dick Morris, and George W. Bush and their accompanying
ideologies, are great dinner conversations - but they really aren't in any real
trouble here locally until they don't pick up the trash one morning, fix the
street light at the corner or catch the neighborhood kid who likes to drive
through the development at twice the posted speed limit. I have always felt that local government is
too important for partisan politics.
I immediately reminisced that (true
story, one of my favorites) I once had a constituent, who didn't know me from
Adam, but one day accosted me suggesting that I was a liberal because I had
holes in my farm work pants. Okay! - let's take a look at this situation.
Last time I checked - holes in my work
jeans are not quite the key and critical informational ingredients that are
often used for interpretive and truly intellectual analytical assessments. Everyone involved had a good laugh.
But back to the phone message - I was
calm. 'Gee - Thank you very much for your tape message. Your message made Caroline and I smile. It is
very rare that our conservative and faith values are ever questioned, but hey -
stuff happens. I'm good for it. I'm up for the challenge.'
Caroline and I are often the target of
criticism for our conservative approach to Community Leadership. But all that
aside - neither one of us really cares about labels. We are first and foremost -
soldiers of God. We care about faith
based and values-oriented efficacy. We
are constantly pre-occupied with issues of leadership and effective government.
There really is no overwhelmingly
conservative or left-wing way to collect the garbage, keep the street lights on
or provide basic health, safety and welfare services for a small
municipality. One either provides
leadership that facilitates a quality of life or one doesn't. That being said - I firmly believe in better
government not bigger government.
I mean - It's not rocket science ~ it’s
Community Leadership that is the real discussion. I believe that leadership is
all about Families and that Quality of Life is our Currency. It's Service. It's: Water and Sewer Service,
Trash Collection, Police and Fire Protection, Roads and Snow Removal,
Education, Recreation, Cost Effective Taxes, - - and, as an elected official-
it all begins with me!
I often find these conversations
unrewarding. (Wow, you should have read the first draft of this essay - my word
choice was different.) For example - towards the end of the Ellen Sauerbrey (R)
Campaign for Maryland Governor in 1994 - the hard right wing of the Republican
Party decided that Ellen Sauerbrey was moderating on some core conservative
values.
That series of events was quite an
awakening for me. No one will ever know
for sure - but I have determined that it was the hard, uncompromising and
inflexible elements of the right wing of the Republican Party that elected Governor
Glendening (D) for the last eight years. Whether you are a republican or a
democrat - you have to admit that this is quite a paradox.
That experience provided me with some
discerning - applied political science - insights about this issue. It taught me some lessons about maintaining
uncompromising, inflexible and absolute approaches to leadership. Lessons which I will maintain for the rest of
my leadership life. As community
leaders, I feel that we must always maintain an open mind and facilitate a
dialogue - especially with those, with whom we may disagree - or the foot we
shoot, may very well be our own. I fully understand that we need to stand for
something and therefore not fall for anything.
But we must always be fair and remember that ultimately we are elected
to serve the best interests of all of our constituency - not to
promulgate an uncompromising dogmatic political ideology. There is quite a
difference between a political leader and a community leader.
I again remind one of David Horowitz's
latest books, "The Art of Political War and other Radical
Pursuits." It is a wonderful
read. I wholeheartedly recommend
it. It begins by saying: "Politics
is war, but in America the left is doing all the shooting. Shell-shocked conservatives blame their
failures on the media or unscrupulous opponents, but they refuse to name the
real culprit – themselves. In a book
that will shatter the complacency of establishment conservatives, David
Horowitz shows how Bill Clinton's generation, having mastered the art of
political war, has spent the last ten years clobbering conservatives in and out
of government."
I
also studied very carefully the last campaign of George W. Bush and
wholeheartedly endorse his big tent (inclusive and unity oriented) concept of
conservative politics. Indeed, there is
always room at my leadership table for a well intended leader to disagree with
me.
I take enormous pride in being
accessible and available for dissent, criticism, discussion and dialogue. Should there be any specific issue that is on
the horizon which speaks directly to my vision for local leadership - I look
forward to addressing that concern.
Meanwhile - Always take care to not wear
work pants in public that have holes in them. They may be a dead giveaway that
you actually work for a living. And we can all draw conclusions about that sort
of work ethic values, now can't we?
God
Bless, Kevin
03/22/2001
- R2 04/15/2001 - 04/17/2001 – 06/16/2002
“Whoever fights monsters should see to
it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long
enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.” FRIEDRICH WILHELM NIETZSCHE 1844-1900
Kevin
Dayhoff, a slave to the masters of the page - the little soldiers in my life -
words