For the first time in as long as I can remember on Daily Kos, we are busy discussing the mayoral race in a mid-sized midwestern town. That’s great. But now we get to the meat of the matter: while fighting about what makes a good candidate we have also forgotten a few things about how we get candidates at all.
A few months ago, Jane Kleeb had introduced me through phone calls and emails to Heath Mello. I read through his deck, and the issues touted struck me as the right vision for Omaha. A pro-LGBT stance right off the bat with a focus on a non-discrimination policy that the current mayor opposed. An approach to environmentally safe policies, mass transit, a more affordable city and a goal of decreasing poverty within the community.
These are the kind of issues we should all embrace. But, like many things, there was a caveat. Mello came from an anti-choice background. When I asked him about this, he was pretty blunt about how working as a mayor he would make sure that Planned Parenthood would not be limited. This stands in incredible contrast to his opponent, who has repeatedly gone on the record as opposed to these issues and more.
Putting aside endorsements — which are free to give or not, and I get that, we need to talk about the way in which we service candidates.
Running for office is tricky. We’d love to think there is a dream candidate in every district. What you are far more likely to find are candidates who represent the voters of their district, and in many cases, not all of those voters are with us on all issues. I wish they were, but they aren’t.
When the race to run for Mayor in Omaha popped up, Stothert, the Republican, had a built in number of voters by both carrying the R brand and her positions on the Republican issues. Heath Mello, a well-known name, had his own voters as well.
In the end, after a primary to come down to two candidates and Omaha, Nebraska voters overwhelmingly chose these two candidates.
There will be no “re-do”, or second guessing. Omaha, Nebraska voters knew who they were voting for and what they were getting.
Nationalizing this race doesn’t help, though it’s just my opinion.
After races in Kansas, Georgia and soon Montana, the goal of many Democratic members became one of tapping into national outrage and raising money. There is a problem with this.. a huge one. Unlike federal officers who will impact all of our day to day lives, mayoral candidates impact people living primarily in that community, and the issues by which they should be judged, especially in smaller municipalities, don’t often fall into the easy to weight continuum of progressive values.
What kind of police service do they plan? Handling of potholes? City fines and nuisances, ordinance standards and business permits. These are the day to day life of a mid-sized city mayor.
It is important to bring attention to opportunities that we have to uplift candidates who may improve the life of those around them, and in comparison to Stothert, Mello most certainly succeeds.
But when a race like this is nationalized, we also run the risk of throwing candidates who are not prepared for this kind of bright light to face scrutiny that would never occur otherwise. The appearance of Senator Sanders and others in Omaha tonight on the dais with Mello certainly acted as a catalyst for this response.
But people voting for Mayor candidates shouldn’t be thinking of this as a Bernie-Hillary-Trump-anyone else race. The reason is simple: as a mayor, they have almost no role in any of the policies that define those candidates. Hillary rarely spent time discussing better rain and snow drainage. Bernie Sanders didn’t spend very much time talking about public litter and safe parks. Donald Trump certainly didn’t discuss city alcohol enforcement policies.
These are the things which define mid-market mayors.
The discussion of women’s rights is crucial and should be discussed, and in my conversation with Mello, I found no reason to disbelieve him when he told me he would do nothing to stop access to Planned Parenthood in Omaha and would work with them.
The Democratic party has been known for members who have made profound changes in their thinking on issues and policies, and what was being proposed here wasn’t that profound: that as a mayoral candidate, he had to take time to step back and rethink the role of government especially in this role he was seeking.
On May 9, Omaha residents will have a binary choice on the ballot. They will choose between someone who is opposed to them on almost all issues and another person who is struggling with an issue we care about.
Over the years, I’ve seen legislators make big change and small change on several issues as long as the conversation was ongoing. Planned Parenthood lobbyists will tell you stories about people they continue to talk to, and the how those conversations helped change minds or influence votes.
Is that possible here? Yes.
And we should all be hopeful more people can listen to the argument, digest, and grow as people. If we don’t believe that to be true, we are all in big, big trouble. That conversation with candidates like Mello will be ongoing, continuous. Not just because we want a better candidate, but because he is also a voter, and we want him to embrace certain values, and a big part of that is being able to have two parties willing to engage in the discussion.
Now, instead of a small mayoral race where the locals focused on Potholes, Republican Stothert has the advantage of news cycle after news cycle about the role of Bernie Sanders, Our Revolution, Daily Kos, Planned Parenthood, NARAL and others.
When, in the end, most voters primarily care about snow on the road.
Organizations like Daily Kos should follow their principles in regards to endorsements. It is unfortunate that this was an endorsement then retracted. If there had never been an original endorsement by Our Revolution or Daily Kos, it probably wouldn’t be a story outside of the Omaha World paper.
But for Nebraska, the choice that lays before them is to elect someone who is beginning to listen on the issue, will pick up the phone and talk to you, as well as someone who is with us on many other issues.. or someone implacably opposed to us on progressive issues, as well as opposed to day to day city management issues that will directly impact the life of those within the city.
I completely respect all who are frustrated, unhappy, or feel as though something different should be possible. I will not attack anyone's reason, as this is a personal issue and I will never be put in this position due to my gender.