I’ve been watching Rep. Rodney Davis for awhile. You don’t see a bunch of voters at his events. It’s pretty clear what’s up with his primary strategy. It’s establishment and elites, embraced extremely tightly, all the way until June 28th. 

Not that there’s anything wrong with any of these accomplished folks. 

If you don’t really have a clear vision for our country or our district, staying away from real people is probably the best approach. In most election cycles, this campaign strategy might be enough to placate voters.

I doubt it’ll be that easy to ignore the real challenges and frustrations that voters have in every single community in our district, which is exactly what Rep. Davis is doing by huddling in private luncheons and wineries in hushed isolation from the people he answers to and seeks to represent.

Without listening to voters where they work, live, and kick back, there is zero chance a representative will be able to effectively break the stranglehold that the status quo has on our rural communities. The inertia from 50 years of growing Republican dominance and Democratic ambivalence if not absolute absence is catching up to nearly every corner of every county. 

Answering tough questions and listening to real people would be a better use of any person’s time that wanted to make a substantial difference here. We need many people to make a substantial difference in the plus column to alter the trajectory that we all share.

We’ve had four to five decades of decay. Too much time and too many people have moved onto more opportunities without any accountability for the party and the policies that have primarily governed our rural region. 

Somewhere along this half century in America, it became too difficult to admit mistaken beliefs and opinions. We embraced simplistic talking points while increasingly letting go of any scrutiny of our own local elected leaders based on metrics of objective reality. Where failure increased both locally and individually, obscuring reality gained more of a foothold. Reassuring media was in high demand, friends and family were blocked for perceived oppositional points of view, and the race to control each other had only just begun.

Rep. Davis is not just seeking to represent our district, he’s seeking the words to better relate with us all. Listen to Davis in many of his committee hearings (1 hour into hearing on link) since the new district was announced. He is seeking the magic words to use so he doesn’t have to actually connect with voters ever again, just like Rep. Shimkus did in the last 15th District for nearly a quarter of a century. If Davis can only win a primary with Rep. Mary Miller. 

The reality about Mary Miller is that she, like President Trump, gives voice to those who felt as if no one was listening to them for many years and decades. That is a very difficult challenge for Davis and what he has to offer voters, which is not a seat at the private luncheon or a free ticket to the winery. 

Let’s be clear, though, Miller isn’t offering anything for our district either, but she has tapped into the same vein that Trump did with what appears to be relative ease. When you spark someone’s heart, even if it’s to make them fear and become more angry with family, friends, and neighbors, it is a skill that should be wielded judiciously, with absolute care, compassion, and a precision that comes from listening.

Mary Miller, worse than Trump, has no discernible care, precision or judiciousness within her personality that is readily apparent from her words or actions. She does know how to copy a successful political model and mold it to wherever she lives, whatever she is doing, and to whatever agenda she has. I wish she had some compassion for the children she has so harshly judged and wishes to use government to dictate their individual lives through an extreme interpretation of religious ideology.

I prefer principles, policies, and people connected to the U.S. Constitution, our history, the local community, and a vigorous accountability system to obtain metrics to determine results from actions taken.

We deserved this system from the beginning. Until we demand it from ourselves, we will never have it for ourselves.

  • What are your thoughts regarding the candidates for the 15th Congressional District?