Contributed by Rep. David Eastman
In a match-up between politics and good comedy, I have to say that good comedy wins, hands down. No offense to the political junkies out there, but when you boil it all down, politics usually ends up being little more than a B movie version of comedy, a low-budget version of the real thing.
As a legislator in Juneau this past year, my family and I had ringside seats, if you will, to the carnage of Juneau politics. It was three parts train wreck with two parts WWE/pro wrestling sprinkled on top.
As politicians compete for your votes over the next 50 days, they will say a lot of things. Here’s something to keep in mind: The lobbyists and powerbrokers in Juneau don’t care one bit about a candidate’s campaign promises. Let that sink in for a minute. Those who have the money and hold the power, couldn’t care less about what a candidate says on the campaign trail.
Do they hear about it? Sure, they hear about it. But it’s like the pro wrestling show on TV in the next room: Inevitably, it’s just background noise. They know it’s just noise, and they tune it out.
Campaigns are mostly a show put on for voters. In the world of politics, they are, at best, a necessary distraction from the “real business” of governing. The real show of course is how politicians actually vote when the chips are down. And that’s a show that lobbyists pay big bucks to see in Juneau.
Voters are instead encouraged to focus on a candidate’s “positions”. It’s the performance aspect of politics, and it happens year-round. Voters are encouraged to listen intently to what politicians say, and to applaud and cheer when the politician says something the voter likes.
It’s an arrangement designed to minimize conflict. The voters back home focus on the things politicians say, while those in Juneau tune out what the politicians say, and simply care about how politicians actually vote when the chips are down.
If you vote how those in Juneau want you to when it counts, the chances of Juneau raising large sums of money to beat you in the next election are small, and if you say the things the voters want to hear, the chances of them voting to send you back to Juneau are very high. So, if being re-elected and hearing the right words from your politicians is the goal, the solution is easy. Keep the voters happy with the words that encourage them. Keep the lobbyists happy with the policies that encourage them. And keep the politicians happy with your vote on election day that encourages them. Everybody’s happy, or at least happy enough to continue to play their part.
Now there are some organizations who risk upending this delicate arrangement, namely those groups whose cause is worth more to them than keeping voters, politicians, and lobbyists happy.
Whether the cause is saving the lives of whales or saving the lives of babies, any group who makes the effort to remind the public which politicians voted with the special interests, risks upsetting this very delicate arrangement.
One thing’s for certain, when politicians, voters and lobbyists are upset, the result is anything but comedy. But if something has to change (like repealing SB91 or stopping politicians from stealing from the PFD), you personally need to be willing, or you need to find someone else who is willing, to persevere through all of that unpleasantness on the long road to actually changing the status quo. Someone needs to do the work to make future elections not about what politicians say about the PFD, but about what they do to change (or preserve) the status quo. That work won’t get done by itself, and there is no lobbyist or politician down in Juneau powerful enough to do it for you all by themselves.
It took a whole lot of work to get the legislature and the Walker Administration to rethink whether an arrested person’s criminal convictions in Seattle and New Orleans should be taken into account before automatically calling that person “low-risk” to the public and releasing them back onto the street. The legislature was against us. The governor was against us. There weren’t enough votes for it. And yet, over time, we made it happen. It took a lot of work. Important things usually do.
It takes time, and it usually takes money, to change the status quo. If you believe that it needs to change, if you really truly believe that it does, contact me. But know that the adage is true, opportunity to make real changes often comes dressed in Carhartt and looks a lot like work. If you want to be part of the solution, you know how to reach me. But if you are looking to be entertained, I recommend sticking with comedy.
Rep. David Eastman (david@davideastman.org) has served in the Alaska State House representing the Mat-Su since 2017. He ran on a platform of fighting for genuine conservative reform, fiscally and socially, and remains committed to delivering on that promise.