Some years ago, on a summer evening in a leafy neighborhood of Washington, D.C., an editor of the New Republic was walking his dog, and he came upon Sen. Eugene McCarthy, a neighbor, who was walking his dog.
The writer was troubled about the pending presidential election and felt, as we all seem to, quadrennially, that the choice was a poor one — it should never have come to this.
McCarthy was past presidential and congressional politics at that point, but still engaged and observant.
They walked along, and talked of politics and its inherent limits.
McCarthy said: “You vote for the man.”
“In America, you vote for the man.”
And that makes me think of the small scandal in my family when my mother, who came from deep Democratic roots and married a man with the same sort of roots, became an enthusiast for the presidential campaign of Nelson Rockefeller — she even attended a rally in Columbus, Ohio.
My father regarded it as bizarre; inexplicable.
And my friend the late Susannah B. Hatt, an aristocratic New Englander, a translator, archaeologist, and volunteer in the early days of the hospice movement — uber-accomplished. And, politically, all over the board. She went from Norman Thomas, to Dwight Eisenhower, to Sen. McCarthy himself (the aforementioned Gene), to Jesse Jackson. She campaigned actively for each of them and gave real money.
How could she move from Thomas, the socialist, to Ike, the general?
Well, maybe a little hero worship. But, mostly, admiration of character.
You vote for the man. Or woman.
Because character is everything.
And country comes before party.
And political slogans are half truths. But also half lies.
And ideology is the disease of college kids, zealots, and Europeans.
Americans used to understand that politics is like any other practical enterprise — a family, a business, a church. One makes prudential and temporary judgments based on values, yes, but also instinct, economies, and the surprises of life.
The best compass on those seas is not slogan or ideology, but character.
This precept was once fundamental to the American political tradition: character trumps. It matters most. A first class temperament beats charisma, a good program, even experience, which also matters, or should.
Think of our greatest presidents: Washington, Lincoln, both Roosevelts. Their policies and programs moved us forward but the policies and programs came from their values, formed and refined by character.
Parties and platforms don’t create character and values. They are created by them.
All this makes me think of Ohio, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, said to be in the fight of his life to hang on to his seat.
Mr. Brown has been in Ohio politics for 50 years. And he has always been himself; his own unpackaged, un-“handled” self — rumbled, gravelly-voiced — unique. And that included, most importantly, his values. He has consistently been devoted to people who don’t have much money or power. He has walked with them, listened to them in union and VFW halls, and tried to figure out practical ways to empower them.
He has never had the anger or sweep of rhetoric of Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren. He’s never been a demonizer. He’s always been a retail politician. On TV he looks ironically amused and tired.
And Mr. Brown’s legislative goals have been modest but real: Help for injured veterans; caps on interest for student loans; lowering the cost of insulin.
Perhaps more than any member of Congress, Mr. Brown understood the toll of usury on the working class, the poor, and the young. This was a mostly losing but noble cause.
Practical fixes are hard. Real progress, harder. Legislating is like sculpting in snow. There are 100 ways to be a senator and 50 ways to be a good one. And journalists don’t have good tools of measurement and often settle for gossip and herd wisdom.
But I know that when his party embraced the global economy, Sherrod Brown said “no,” and stood for local economies and American workers and cars and suits made here.
Protectionism might mean protecting the work and life of a neighbor.
It might be about the dignity of work.
Through the years, Mr. Brown has quietly stood firm.
Two more things about Sherrod Brown: First, he knows how to talk to people, with respect. He greets every person the same way – directly, sincerely and kindly. Second, he reads books and thinks about them. That’s a feat for any American, but especially a politician.
All this equals character.
And if Mr. Brown is turned out on a Trumpiam wave in Ohio, it will simply be the triumph of slogan and half-baked ideology.
We are caught up in postures — wokeness on the left and MAGAism on the right. Neither of which has any reality or intellectual seriousness.
We need to get back to the man, the woman — the person. Character is all.
Nailed it.
Thank you for this column Keith. Please come to Florida. We need you here! 😎