It’s Time to Turn the Page on Campaigns of Personality

In the congressional elections of 2018 and 2020, I was the Democratic candidate for NY-23. Comprised at that time mostly of the Southern Tier of New York State, NY-23 is an area largely lost to time, emblematic of the human consequences of outsourcing and the crush of agricultural cooperatives on small farms. In short, it was Trump Country. My opponent was a Tea Party incumbent who was not only “Trump before Trump” but the actual chairman of Trump’s New York State re-election campaign committee. Biden won in 2020, but Trump, and my opponent, took the district by 20 points.

Many facets remain memorable about those four years. The Republican Party campaign playbook, for example. It was as predictable as it was effective: make a straw man out of your opponent and use a corporate-funded war chest to attack your opponent using lies, histrionics and fear-mongering. My opponent regaled the district with false claims that I advocated injection sites on every street corner or that somehow my campaign was behind a brick thrown through the window of his campaign headquarters, and then later another one onto his driveway with a dead rat tied to it with the name of his adult daughter etched on the side.

The most memorable feature of those years was not, however, ridiculous. It was the total absence of policy in the campaign. The last day I talked policy was June 23, 2018—primary day in New York State. Democratic candidates danced angels on pins to distinguish ourselves on matters of gun safety, the environment and economic development. With a background in cybersecurity policy, I further emphasized broadband deployment in the Southern Tier for economic redevelopment and cyberpolicy as effective foreign policy. Those issues never emerge in the general election. Armed with his Republican playbook, my opponent threw me on the ropes immediately with a pack of lies. Even in debates—where he would show up with props such as a brick—it was near impossible to shift the conversation to what really matters: policies that affect people’s lives.

I am reminded of this experience as we gear up for another presidential election. Among the many thoughts that this season inspires in people from left to right, let us remember one salient feature: the Republican Party offered no platform for the last election. Unprecedented in almost a century of presidential electoral politics, it is worth our while to consider the meaning of this glaring absence. First, the drift toward a campaign of personality, not the real substance of politics. Second, when people support a candidate who runs on personality, we accept no promises and no purpose other than those that serve mercurial popularity. Third, in a country already allergic to planning—see what happened to a generation of blue-collar workers in the wake of globalization and outsourcing that rest on both Republican and Democratic Party mistakes—we forsake the one time that we have as a nation to address critical issues.

Policy matters. Policy is not the law itself, but it is how citizens translate their experience into a path that leads law to make a difference. Policy frames the discussion. It provides a platform and vocabulary to address real matters of consequence: Should we invest in new technologies to reinvigorate old industrial zones? Would it help farmers if Congress rewrote the law on “cooperatives” to break up monopolies that wreak havoc on local economies? What is the right approach to firearm freedoms and public safety? Should reproductive rights be a national concern or one led by the states? These issues are the real stuff of what governance in a democracy is all about. Policy is where that conversation begins the work of a balanced result.

The midterm election of 2022 represents one of the most robust assertions of democracy in recent memory. Let us also recognize, however, the challenges we yet face in political trends toward autocracy and the very ill effects of disinformation. It is therefore incumbent that the electorate direct candidates to address real issues, not sound bites. Remember, politics is about governance, not entertainment. Of course, no form of government is perfect, and we recall Churchill’s famous quote about it being the worst form of government except for the others tried. Policy is unique in that process, because it clearly links the individual to their government. Let’s get back to a real exchange of views. Let’s expect candidates to stick to the facts. Within that conversation, we will again find the best of ourselves. We will step away from the political abyss toward which we have drifted of late and live up to the promise of being a model for all the eyes of the world that remain upon us.