Disagree Without Being Disagreeable

I wanted to take a pause in writing about other campaign stuff, to say a word about civility. I don’t believe in civility for the sake of civility. But my political Golden Rule is:

1. Be nice. It doesn’t hurt anyone to be nice.
2. Help if you can. Everyone needs help at some point.
3. If you can’t help, at least don’t be a jerk.

So, if you’ve been reading here at all, you’ve probably figured out the two main points in my campaign. Big money is the problem in politics, so I’m taking a stand against money in Knox County politics. And, I think the Jacobs administration is pursuing policies that amount to development for the sake of developers. Instead, I think we should pursue reasonable and responsible development.

I was looking at the Farragut Press and noticed that Mayor Jacobs was doing an event for his program Read City USA. I think that’s a good program and the Mayor should be lauded for all he does for reading. And I have no problem giving him those kudos and still pointing out that, in the area of Knox County development, the Mayor has us on the wrong path. And I’m going to call him out on those policies as much as possible.

Similarly with my potential Republican opponents, I’ve met them both and they seem like good guys. They’re both running for County Commission for non-cynical reasons. Because they want to serve and do what they can to help. By the same token, I know that, between them they raised $30,000 for their campaigns during the last period and, I suspect, I’m going to see that number is much larger tomorrow when the next financial disclosure numbers come out. Big money is the problem and I will call them out for the list of $1000 checks they have already received and will receive in the future.

I don’t see a problem with this dichotomy. I’m going to stand my ground and defend my positions, because that’s the lawyer in me. But, throughout this campaign, I’m going to try and be nice, help when I can and not be a jerk. That’s the least I can do.