Driving home tonight I heard Chris Matthews on Hardball talking Carl "I'll take you out" Paladino with Errol Lewis of the Daily News and Joe Klein of Time. They spoke of anger, especially in Upstate New York. Klein summed up what he has seen out on the road in America as not so much anger as, "What people really are is freaked out."
As the segment ended, my XM radio jumped to a for a sports channel. It was George Brett telling the story of a melee that began with a slide into 3rd where Graig Nettles kicked him. It became an all-out pile on, with Brett at the bottom. As he tells it, the next thing he felt was Thurman Munson on top of him, with his catcher's padding, saying: "Don't worry George, I've got you covered."**
My brain popped gears so fast, I drove right past my exit and took a very long detour. I had time to contemplate Thurman Munson, Yankee catcher, protecting George Brett, Royals base runner, by instinct. In spite of competitive rivalry, and the benefits socking it to the enemy would have had toward winning the game, Munson just did what was right.
There's been a special place in my heart for Thurman Munson all my Yankee-loving life. On a night when the political scene has gotten so viscerally ugly, I really needed that Thurman Munson story.
I caught it. This is the kind of candidate I want in my life. The kind of politician I can respect, regardless of party. Even if I disagree with one or another of their positions, I want to know that the Mayor, the Governor, the Congressman, whatever else they choose, will make sure the people who need it most are kept safe.
We can disagree about the tax rate, whether the Post Office should be privatized, or the best way to improve our schools. But when push comes to shove, when the sky is crashing down on families, when fear drives calls for action now, will you protect the ones in danger?
Which brings me back to the Midterms and the choices we've been given. Here are a couple:
NY-GOV
Carl Paladino when the 1 in 7 Americans are living below the poverty line, chose to propose turning prisons into dorms for welfare recipients where they could learn hygiene.
Andrew Cuomo learned that Prudential was making a profit by witholding the lump sum death benefits meant for the families of soldiers chose to launch a fraud investigation against them.
Which one has the protective instincts?
NY-24
Republican House candidate Richard Hanna told a rally in Auburn this week:
"We are undoing all the things that have made this country magnificent. We are telling people that it's okay to be entitled, it's okay to not work, to not participate, that somehow someone will always take care of you. I don't want to live in a welfare state."
He spoke of moral hazards making people honest, and sending a message that, "once again, people are accountable for themselves."
I wonder what Hanna would say to those 1 in 7 Americans. Their lost jobs, their foreclosed homes, their struggle to afford college - clearly it is their own fault, and "moral hazards matter".
His Democratic opponent, Rep Michael Arcuri was on the floor of the House yesterday, leading the effort to pass the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act (H.R. 847) to ensure continued health care for first responders.
Moral hazards, indeed.
It's a great test. You can see it in the choices made by candidates in the words they use, the changes they propose, who and what they identify as the problem. When the dirt kicks up, and punches get thrown, look for the guy who dives past the brawl and makes like Thurman Munson.
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**When I got home, I looked up the story and found variations on the words Munson spoke to Brett. All of them, however, are winners like this:
"And Thurman is lying on top of me with his catching gear on and saying, `Don't worry, George. I won't let anybody hit you when you're down.' And they didn't."