"Ditch Mitch": When Will We Have Substance?

The Capitol. Kinsey Hein, 2013.

I live in Kentucky. I have voted in Kentucky elections for the last six years. I vote for candidates based on what they are bringing to the office for which they are running, how they have run their campaigns, and whether or not I believe that they have the best interest of the country at heart. I do not vote for a candidate just because they represent a certain party.

I am not a fan of Senator Mitch McConnell, one of Kentucky's senators. No, it's not because he's a Republican and I'm a Democrat and so of course I should hate him. It's because I don't agree with things he's supported (or loudly not supported) during his tenure in Washington. He has voted for war in Iraq, the Keystone Pipeline project, and a tax break for himself; all issues I see as despicable. He has voted against gun regulation, campaign finance reform, the Violence Against Women Act, affordable health care; all issues with which I have a very personal relationship and believe are necessary for the good of our country.

Mitch McConnell is up for reelection in November 2014. The assumed Democratic candidate running for US Senate is Alison Grimes, the current Secretary of State of Kentucky. She took the office only 19 months ago, so when her name started coming up, I paid attention. I wanted to see what experience she's gotten during her stint as our Secretary of State, seeing as she was a local intellectual property lawyer before she was elected. I've listened to a few of her speeches and I agree with her more than I agree with McConnell on a number of political issues.

I am, however, disappointed by the campaign Grimes is running. Slogans like "Ditch Mitch" and "Team Switch" are all over local television and newspapers. Grimes's bid for the Senate is polling well simply because she's saying that she is not Mitch McConnell. I don't want to vote for someone because they aren't "the other guy;" I want to vote for someone.

I expressed my frustration to my husband about the fact that Kentucky's best hope of a Democratic US Senator is using grade school insults to persuade voters to vote for her. He listened for a minute, and then said, "She has a campaign team that is using polling data that shows what works to get a win."

"Ditch Mitch" works? "Team Switch" will win Grimes the election? If these absurd sayings work, I think we have a lot more to worry about than which candidate won the election. If someone who has only 19 months of public service experience can win a seat at the national level on elementary school level quips and not on her resume or voting record (because she doesn't have a voting record), what does that say about us as a society?

Sure, it might simply mean that more people voted against McConnell than for him.

But what else could Grimes's winning demonstrate? That we don't care who takes a seat in the US Senate as long as it's not "the other guy"? That we are perfectly fine not only supporting, but rewarding the playground insults (that we wouldn't allow our children to say) our elected government officials are using during their "elevated discourse"?

I'm tired. I'm tired of this divisiveness that we insist on clinging to like a lifeline. I'm tired of the die-hards out there who refuse to see the other side of every issue just because of who brought the issues up. I'm tired of the name calling. I'm tired of the holier-than-thous out there who think that people who don't agree with them just aren't smart enough to understand. I'm tired of the staunch patriots on both sides who think anyone on the other side of the aisle is a complete jerk. I can't be the only who's tired of all of this!

When we heard about the tragedy at Sandy Hook, who didn't hug their kids a little tighter that night? I can tell you it wasn't just Democrats who did.

When the death of Osama bin Laden was announced, who didn't feel a little tiny sense of relief knowing that he had finally been brought to justice? I can tell you it wasn't just Republicans who did.

Whenever we hear about kids who have bad schools or people without food or young moms who get laid off, who doesn't feel for them? We all do.

We all have common goals. We all have the same things we care about more than anything else in the world. Shake off that grade school sense of "I've gotta call this guy a bad name to make myself look better." Move on from that childish yearning for victory, just so you can say you've won, even if you haven't earned it. Become that person, that leader, who is willing to question his own opinion to give the other side a chance to be heard. Become a leader and, for the good of your country, reach across the aisle and shake the hand of someone who, deep down, is just like you.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." --Gandhi

Sources:
McConnell's voting record
2014 KY Senate Polling Statistics
KY Secretary of State Legislative Initiatives