Lately, politics are making my head spin. Romney and Santorum going back and forth with lowbrow attack ads, Gingrich was talking moon colony plans, Ron Paul pops in with some sensibility, but is ultimately at the same point. On the other side, Barack Obama has barely campaigned, and he still looks like a better option than any of them.
Earlier this week the spinning slowed down a little bit. Alan Simpson came to speak at CMU, and while I didn’t get to see him speak at the official function, I was able to be at the taping of an interview for Rocky Mountain PBS, as well as CMU TV.
I was instantly interested in Simpson upon doing some research. A Republican who is pro-choice and not against gay marriage is a tough individual to find nowadays. You can thank the Tea Party and the recent polarizing fight for the Republican Presidential nomination for that.
I was instantly impressed with Simpson’s demeanor during the interviews: he was calm, and completely open in delivering his views, he didn’t layer the cake at all when addressing the tough issues.
When it came to tax cuts, he spoke about the abuse of the words, “cutting taxes,” and how so many Republicans offer tax cuts during campaigns just to get votes. Simpson put up a wall between himself and most of his fellow Republicans, “why would you cut taxes when you’re fighting two wars and borrowing money to do it?”
Simpson also spoke of the recent state of politics and campaigning in this country. One statement stuck in my head. He spoke of himself and his associates when they addressed the public, “We don’t do BS or mush,” he said.
What better way could you describe the inane political rhetoric that spews itself at you when you watch a Republican debate?
When I had the opportunity to ask Simpson a question, these statements are what drove it. I asked if there were any candidates for president that he felt didn’t go around propagating BS or mush, he answered no. He went on to say that the 2012 presidential election was going to be a “horror show.”
He also cited the recent Citizens United Supreme Court decision as a contributing factor to the degradation of elections in America. He criticized the ability of corporations to act as people and make anonymous campaign contributions to candidate’s campaigns. He admitted what I wish so many other Republicans would, that elections are decided by money today, and not by votes.
After hearing Simpson’s views on gay marriage, abortion and corporate campaign contributions, the only question I wish I could have asked was, “What Republican views do you have?” Regardless of his party affiliation, this was a man who acts on what he believes, rather than on any other maxim, including money, influence, and the most important influence of all for a politician, re-election.
Simpson is 80 years old. I don’t think he will be running for office anytime soon. Which is disappointing, because I don’t know what this country is going to do without a candidate with his kind of sensibility. I am happy that he is visiting college campuses. I don’t think there was a single person in the room who wasn’t inspired by him. The lessons Simpson is teaching across the country will positively impact our future political leaders. To the Political Science majors sitting in front of me during the interview, I hope you listened well.