I will start with the background; I had checked in with my dad, because I knew our family had community ties with Jim and Deba Leach. Most importantly to this diary, my maternal grandfather had been one of Jim Leach's instuctors, as his 7th grade history teacher.
Just so this doesn't get missed, mt grandfather was a Lincoln scholar. Lincoln was his subject in graduate school, Lincoln was his passion, and he was so versed in Lincoln that he worked as a consultant for Lincoln in the Hall of Presidents in Disneyland (or maybe Disney World).
Now that you have the mission background, follow me to the other side...
After tonight's debate, which Mr. Leach watched with several dozen Obama supporters at the local Eritrean & Ethiopian restaurant (you read that right), I was fortunate to introduce myself, and related that to my knowledge my grandfather had been his teacher at one time. Mr. Leach quickly recognized the name, when I mentioned my grandfather, and rated him in what I would consider superlative terms. He said that my grandfather was a "teacher's teacher," and that he could connect very well with the students.
I commented that he must have been made to learn something regarding Abraham Lincoln. He replied that the class was assigned the memorization of the Gettysburg Address. He noted that while in other countries, memorization is a pertinent aspect of education, it seems to be lacking in the United States. My feelings on rote instruction as opposed to critical thinking skills is the subject for a dozen other diaries, but for this one, I got the impression that Mr. Leach was hinting at memorization as a tool for deeper understanding, not as an end for learning itself. I can certainly picture my grandfather using the knowledge of Lincoln's exact wording and phrasing to take the students into the past, to understand what it would be like to be in America in a time of such deep division. Mr. Leach said that their memorization included not just the words in the speech, but the punctuation as well. I was humbled by the ease with which Mr. Leach could recall events from over half a century ago.
He was able to answer some economic questions posed by a friend and fellow Dem on our county committee, and he understands economic policy thoroughly. I regret that his name is stuck on that horrid piece of legislation that has precipitated this recent crisis. He says the Senate bill has a particularly unhelpful section allowing banks to leverage based on stated rather than actual values for mortgage backed securities. He also says that unemployment will jump soon, he expects to 7%, and that if the rescue plan works, it will minimize the coming recession to possibly around a year; but it could still be longer, and it will get worse before it gets better. He says that Obama's tax plan is the far better plan to McCain's (and I do expect that he will personally pay more under Obama) for the economy.
In all, I can't help but have great respect for this true maverick of the Congress, who understands what we are facing, and who sees the necessity for working together to solve the pressing issues of the day. Perhaps it was a bit more than coincidence that Senator Joe Biden mentioned late in the debate his interaction with Mike Mansfield; Mike Mansfield was one of the great public servants mentioned by Jim Leach in his convention speech on the need for bipartisanship (the real kind, not the Bushy kind). If you haven't seen that speech, I recommend taking a look. It would be a shame if the only people who really appreciated it were me, a few other wonky types, and Mark Shields.