It’s good to see politics in Washington, D.C., shaken up a bit,
as happened on Thursday with the swearing in of the 110th Congress.
That historic moment even came with a Bay Area connection.
It’s good to see politics in Washington, D.C., shaken up a bit, as happened on Thursday with the swearing in of the 110th Congress. That historic moment even came with a Bay Area connection.
This connection, of course, was the swearing in of Rep. Nancy Pelosi from San Francisco. As the first woman to step into the job of speaker of the House, no doubt her new leadership role will be closely studied by political observers for years to come.
But maybe just as historic for our political experiment called American democracy was the moment Keith Ellison was sworn in to office as the first Muslim elected to Congress. Appropriately enough, he held his left hand on a leather-bound volume of a Quran once owned by Thomas Jefferson. No doubt that American founding father, who once wrote that “all men are created equal,” would have been pleased by Ellison’s symbolic demonstration that we all live in a land of diverse religious choice.
Closely following national news coverage of the 110th Congress’ setting up shop to govern our nation, I felt an acute sense of personal interest. One freshman representative in particular caught my attention – and his name is Jerry McNerney. Last year, I spent much of my time hoofing down Morgan Hill streets to help out on his political campaign.
Years ago, I’d vowed I’d never get personally involved in politics. I wanted to be above all the power play and backstabbing and dirty dealings of government. OK, I’ll admit that when I was a journalism student at San Jose State University, I did get involved in politics – stuffing envelopes during candidate David Pandori’s run for a seat on San Jose’s City Council. But for me, that race involved more romance than politics. I had a crush for his campaign manager, this really cute young lady who I felt inclined to hang out with in Pandori’s campaign office. (Pandori won his election bid but nothing came of my sly romantic maneuvering.)
But back to McNerney. My campaigning for him began with a mistake I made in November 2004. On Election Day that year, I voted for incumbent Congressman Richard Pombo. My vote was based on nothing deeper than the fact that he was a dairy rancher in the San Joaquin Valley and my grandfather had also once been a dairy rancher there. I figured my grandpa was a hardworking, decent man and so Richard Pombo must be, too. I’m deeply ashamed to admit now this was my shallow and emotion-based logic for casting my vote for Pombo. But that’s how lots of Americans vote – from the gut and not from the brain.
But then on Oct. 30, 2005, I read a New York Times editorial titled “Pombo Time.” It described how my district’s congressman wanted to sell off America’s national parks to the highest bidder. I learned much about my representative’s anti-environmental shenanigans, and that truly turned me against the guy.
Former Republican Congressman Pete McCloskey, famous for creating the Endangered Species Act, also had turned against the guy. Like the Roman patrician Cincinnatus deciding to leave his grainfields to serve his country and war against Rome’s enemies, McCloskey left his apple farm and jumped into the 2006 primary race against Pombo. For a newspaper article, I interviewed McCloskey about his decision, at age 78, to run again for Congress. From our chat at a downtown Morgan Hill coffee shop, McCloskey planted in my mind the notion that politics can indeed be an honorable activity. So, feeling a patriotic duty to do something to get at least one crook out of Congress, I found myself personally involved in McCloskey’s battle to oust Pombo.
Unfortunately, as the pundits predicted, McCloskey failed to win the primary. A gracious gentleman, he called to thank me for my help. “Looks like the good people lost this one,” he said sadly.
I told him I thought the good people did win. In fighting Pombo, we’d fought for the real values of our republic. The primary battle was lost, I told him, but we’d win the war in November.
With his Marine refuse-to-lose style, McCloskey licked his wounds and got gung-ho on the campaign trail again – this time in support of Jerry McNerney, Pombo’s Democratic opponent. I got into that battle, too, and let me tell you, I had a blast. Working on McNerney’s campaign in the months leading to Election Day was more fun than the Superbowl, World Series and Kentucky Derby combined. The stakes for our nation were higher, too.
Despite what pundits first predicted, McNerney beat Pombo in a very heated race. And on Thursday, the newly-elected representative raised his hand to take his oath of office and make a promise to God to defend the Constitution of the United States and serve the people who gave him his congressional career. Knowing McNerney’s solid character and keen intelligence, I’m sure he’ll do a quality job.
I also know he can’t do that job alone. He and Zoe Lofgren, Mike Honda and Sam Farr – the three other people who serve the South Valley in Congress – need folks like you and me to help. “We the People” are obliged to participate in government, too.
That’s why, just as members of the new Congress made their promise Thursday to serve their nation, I’m encouraging you and everyone else in the South Valley to make a similar oath. I want you to solemnly swear in your heart that you’ll support and defend the Constitution of the United States by keeping yourself informed about your elected representative’s decisions and activities.
And, when the spirit moves you, communicate with him or her by U.S. mail, fax, phone call or email about what you think he or she must do to serve you and the America people better.
To protect our inheritance of freedom, we Americans must keep shaking up politics in Washington, D.C., a bit. As Jefferson once wrote, “The force of public opinion cannot be resisted.”
Martin Cheek is the author of ‘The Silicon Valley Handbook.’ He can be reached at ma**********@***il.com. His column appears every Saturday in the Gilroy Dispatch and Hollister Free Lance, and every Tuesday in the Morgan Hill Times.
