The Character Issue.

So a while ago it was made public what a lot of us already knew was coming.  The mayor has filed for divorce.  This was not a shock nor a surprise.  Half the town knew it was coming sooner or later.  Probably the only ones to deny that were Moore's most blindly loyal supporters.  His supporters who's only agenda is that Jeffersonville not invest in itself just so they can save themselves a few bucks a month.

It was this same group of people that also told us that this action should in no way affect our view of the mayor.  And to that I say, BULL.

The character issue is and has long been a high topic of debate when it comes to politics.  Private life actions have been used to judge candidates and elected officials since long before I can remember.  Whether it be George W. Bush being pulled over for drinking and driving or Bill Clinton having a inappropriate relationship with Monica Lewisky.  Its nothing new.  Oh sure the Moore supporters (and the number of supporters is shrinking mind you) will tell you that this is different or that is has always been wrong to judge an elected official on his personal decisions. 

Its hooey.  And they know it.

How a person conducts his or her personal life is there business.  Until they enter the public arena of politics.  Once they do that, anything about them becomes fair game to judge their worthiness to be elected or re-elected.  Remember, this person represents you.  In this case it is the whole city.  But it can range from a city district to an entire country.  Either way it reflects on the citizens that voted for that person. 

Now I'm not here to tell you that a person's private life character has to be the most important issue when hitting the voter booth on election day.  I'm not going to tell you where it should rank at all.  For some people taxes are a priority.  For others its vision and progress.  Whatever your system is, though, it should definitely be in there.  Where at is completely up to you.  But don't let anyone tell you that you shouldn't use character at all when judging a candidate or elected official.  Those who would tell you that care about nothing but protecting their guy. 

Some will use the excuse "well think about their family" when telling to keep quiet about such things.  That's just trying to deflect the blame.  To those that would say that I respond with, "think about your guy that put himself and his family in this situation after putting his family in the public spotlight by running for office."  That is the move of self-centered, ego driven person who only cares about himself.

Wait a minute.  Does that sound like the way that someone has been behaving since taking office?

So character is indeed a useful tool in judging a person who will not only be making decisions that effect your life but also who will represent you while in office. 

Now, conversely, I wont say that it should be your only measuring stick either.  It shouldn't be.  It should be one of many criteria we examine when judging a candidate.  Lets face it, a lot of us don't worry about taxes because they are capped at what we consider a reasonable rate.  If we didn't have those tax caps, tax rates may very well be higher on our local list than it is. 

But certainly progress and growth and vision are still on that list and should be considered in addition to the character issue.  It should not, however, be exclusive either.  Heck, none of us are perfect.

Certainly a person can have a character flaw and go through an elected term and do great good for the voters.  So great that it out weighs that character flaw.  Lets take Tom Galligan for example.  I think even those who are his biggest supporters know that he has a short temper.  His first term as mayor it was overlooked because people felt the good out weighed the bad.  His second term, however, when it became clear that he was having problems working with the council to get anything accomplished, the voters gave him the boot.   Galligan was a big enough person to realize this flaw and work on it.  His next four year term most of his opponents feared he was working too well with the council.  (Well you cant please all of the people all of the time.)

But the bottom line remains this:  Anyone who tells you in any way that character should not matter in your decision either doesn't realize that elected officials represent the public or are protecting their guy.  So feel free to ignore them and to use character as one of the many criteria when judging any candidate.