SALMAGUNDI: Poking holes through campaign clichés

Coming out of a (redundancy alert) contentious campaign season, there are a few cliches I’d like to see put to rest. Chief among them is accusing people of voting against their own self interest. There’s logic in considering the full ramifications of a given politician’s policies, but wonks who trot out this line tend to overlook the real possibility that some people simply have different priorities. For example, some people really do prefer fewer regulations on how they run a business even if that gives room for other folks to operate unethically. And still other voters accept a hefty tax bill as the price to pay for high quality roads, schools and police and fire protection.

Those are just a few examples, but it feeds into another axiom I could do without — the notion there’s more that unites us than divides. I deeply believe this to be true on a human level, but politically it’s becoming less relevant with each passing cycle as powerful forces in all parties establish purity tests, and single-issue voters shun moderates. How many of us have heard someone start a sentence with “I could never vote for a candidate who…”? The fact most folks could fill in that blank with a dozen different phrases friends and neighbors have uttered is telling.

Unity and common decency are more than just admirable goals, they should be guiding life principles. But next time you hear a politician call for unity, consider if that person has shown a tendency to truly compromise — to cede a little ground in order to move everyone forward — or if the unity they want is everyone following their lead.

Even if future politicians appeal to broad swaths of the population, there still will be millions who view those leaders with deep resentment and will work hard to undercut their efforts. The divisiveness isn’t going away, as pretty much all of recorded history indicates. And so long as people feel their basic humanity is being disrespected or ignored, calls for unity will ring hollow.

Fortunately we have hundreds of days between elections to do our own good work, providing direct help and leading by example.

Words of wisdom

There’s plenty to unpack about the impact of J.B. Pritzker’s victory over incumbent Gov. Bruce Rauner, especially since Democrats have firm controls over both of the state’s legislative chambers. And while I didn’t feel comfortable voting for Pritzker, I did want to highlight a quote from his victory speech, which he offered as a response to charges of cynicism for choosing to launch his campaign in the field house of Chicago’s Grand Crossing Park, site of a disastrous 1853 train crash.

“I found a profound significance in Grand Crossing,” Pritzker said, “a reminder that we have no right to walk away from the broken places of our past with no thought about how to mend them for the future.”

That’s a convicting message for public officials, given how often government can be linked with causing such breakage, but also poignantly applicable to our personal lives as well.

I also appreciate what Pritzker told his two teenaged children, daughter Teddi and son Donny, earlier in the speech: “Be who you are, and continue to cut your own path in life.” It might not be an original thought, but as a father, I consider it a message worth sending early and often.

Catching up with…

In March I interviewed WCMY’s Sean Frey. Since then, he’s added to his responsibilities at the Ottawa radio station with a new gig calling football and men’s and women’s basketball — plus one volleyball game — for Aurora University. The Spartans’ video broadcasts are streamed on the school’s website.

“Obviously in any line of work, you’re always looking to challenge yourself,” Frey told me recently. “I was hoping I’d have an opportunity to broadcast games at the college level, and fortunately it happened to knock right up the road at AU. It’s been a great experience, the folks in the athletic department and at the university that I’ve had the chance to interact with have been really welcoming.

“It’s been a challenge. As you’d probably expect, it’s a faster game at the college level. But I think I’ve been up for it. I’ve just tried to absorb everything I can about Division III and the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference, and to keep working on my play-by-play and storytelling. I’m just really thrilled to be at AU and looking forward to the rest of the season.”

SCOTT T. HOLLAND is a former associate editor of The Times. He can be reached at newsroom@mywebtimes.com, facebook.com/salmagundi or twitter.com/sth749.