Deep Gubernatorial Thought
Last night at a townhall meeting, Governor Markell offered the following thought when defending some of his more unpopular stands (slavery apology, NRA-written gun law):
You don’t elect someone for their proposals, you elect them for their judgment.
How do you feel about this statement?
Tags: Jack Markell
I think that this is accurate. You consider a candidate’s proposals, in order to find out how they think, and to determine a guess as to how they have come to judgments in the past, to predict how they will approach future judgments.
Jack offered his blueprint during the campaign, to help voters better understand how he views the world.
Last night Jack offered a quote (from Mario Cuomo?) that you campaign in poetry (verse?), but govern in prose.
We have a representative form of government. We don’t ask our elective officials to take a poll of their constituents before every vote, with the poll being binding on their upcoming vote. We ask them to consider what is best for their constituents (and the entire county/state/nation) in casting their vote.
I disagree, I elect people for their governing principles. I do not expect agreement on every policy or that the unique facts won’t make them adjust to fit the new details. I do expect a certain direction and philosophical consistency. It is about the proposals, vision, competence for executive office, and the judgment.
isn’t a proposal a product of judgment?
I think a proposal is a way for you to examine their judgment. However Markell was specifically referring to Obama and his health care reform, about how different groups are upset for one reason or another and Obama has to navigate between them and make a decision on which direction to go.
“isn’t a proposal a product of judgment?
I believe that is true, as he was primarily elected on his proposals because he didn’t exercise much judgment while in the Minner administration. To date, the same is true of his own administration.
A person can have good judgment and not do anything with it. They can react to things but never get you anywhere. Judgment is more of a mindset. It takes vision and action to make it worth something more.
“he didn’t exercise much judgment while in the Minner administration.”
First, he wasn’t “in” the administration — he held a separately elected office.
Second, in what way did he fail to exercise judgment? Do you mean by failing to speak out against the chief executive of his own party? When was the last time anyone of either party did that? I keep hearing that as the knock on Carney. I’ll take it into account as soon as someone shows me an example of it in real life.