By Russ Lawrence, Hamilton
Almost 40 years ago I answered a call from a pollster who wanted to know what I thought was the most important issue facing the United States. Was it defense? The deficit? Health care?
I gave it some thought, then told him that the most important issue was “thoughtful leadership.”
“That’s not on our list,” he said.
“I know,” I said. “That’s why it’s a problem.” Then I hung up, and haven’t answered a survey since.
I’ve thought about it plenty, though, and with every election cycle my opinion has been reinforced. Few candidates seemed to combine the attributes of thoughtfulness, humanity, and leadership that I valued.
Then I met Kathleen Williams, candidate for Congress.
She exemplifies what I meant: she’s smart, she’s thoughtful, independent-minded, and focused on solutions, not ideology. When she decides what course of action is right, she takes action and provides leadership. Her positions are informed by her 33 years’ experience in natural resource planning and policy, by her three terms in the Montana legislature, and by her experience as a caregiver for her mother, when only a teenager herself.
She is animated not by politics, but by policy. To a policy wonk like myself, that is pure music. Politics is all about playing the game; policy is about finding solutions that work for people.
Her background in resource economics taught her not only about the market values of commodities, but also to understand the intrinsic values of things that have no price, but which enrich our lives nonetheless.
Where her values and mine diverge, I can at least follow – and respect – her reasoning.
That’s the kind of candidate I can back as Montana’s Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, and I urge you to do likewise.