Consider a Mugwump

To those that know me, I am clearly a conservative, also seemingly staunchly Republican.  But I harbor an inner secret - a secret that I share with a number or Americans that have gone before - perhaps well before.  Americans like:

• Charles Francis Adams, Jr., president of the Union Pacific Railroad and the American Historical Association
• Henry Adams, author
• Edward Atkinson, entrepreneur and business executive
• Charles William Eliot, President of Harvard University
• E. L. Godkin, editor of The Nation
• Thomas Nast, political cartoonist
• Carl Schurz, former Senator from Missouri and Secretary of the Interior, editor of the Saturday Evening Post
• Moorfield Storey, lawyer and NAACP president from 1909–1915
• William Graham Sumner, social scientist, Yale University
• Horace White, editor of the Chicago Tribune
• And in his own autobiographical words Mark Twain, author

Image from Wikipedia

I am a Mugwump!  What is a mugwump?  Well you need to let historical records be your guide, not modern interpretation.  If you use Wikipedia, where I got the image I use in this piece, you would come to the conclusion it was a bunch of Republicans who betrayed their party to vote for a democratic candidate.  In much of the modern literature, you will see a similar characterization.  You need to go back and read contemporaneous descriptions.

While it is true the name was applied to those Republications like Mark Twain (Samuel Clemmons) who felt the corruption of then Republican presidential candidate James G. Blaine in 1884, was beyond their limits and instead they campaigned and voted for Grover Cleveland.  Soon, this movement rapidly began to encompass members of both political parties deciding to vote the best man as opposed to the party line.  The most notable Democratic rise of “mugwumpery” was during the election of Teddy Roosevelt in 1901.

Why do I think we need more mugwumps today?  Perhaps, it is the constant cry for political purity I am reacting to.  I find myself, more and more, irritated by those seeking their political solace in the wrapping of party purity.  Party purity is always a much easier choice – isn’t it?  Simply swallow the syrup and be content with your choice.  If you do that little thing, we will assure you that you will get exactly what we, I mean you want.  No worries!  We will take care of it all.  Don’t pay any attention to the man behind the curtain.

This has worked so well for both parties throughout my lifetime, most people can’t contemplate any other way.  The divisions in ideology have gotten progressively further and further apart!  There is one problem – it’s never worked for me!

Mugwump Revelation #1

I voted for Jerry Brown…  There I said it, although I have said it before as well.  I voted for Jerry, because I have come to know him personally and professionally and his actions undermined the convenient image I allowed to be crafted by the media of “Governor Moonbeam” many years before.  I found him refreshingly pragmatic, dedicated, committed to concepts much larger than himself and highly principled.  Most importantly, I learned I could trust that he would do as I expected – not always as I want.  That is for me, and should be for all of us, highly prized in a politician.

Mugwump Revelation #2

I consider Don Perata (the President Pro Tempore emeritus of the California Senate) a good friend.  If I had been a resident of Oakland, I would have voted for him as well – for the same reasons.  I have found him to be highly dedicated, pragmatic and committed to issues bigger than himself as well.  Like Jerry, he is – from my viewpoint- predictable and willing to listen and assimilate contra-posing viewpoints.

So, I have been damned and ridiculed by some for these positions, but I feel I am a stronger man for it and more importantly I feel we are a stronger California and country as well.  I am fortunate that I was raised to have good self esteem, and a strong personality so I don’t have a problem saying scr– them to those who have attacked me on this front.  Like Twain, I will pick who I feel is the best person to fulfill the task in  front of them, regardless of party and opposing ideology.

Sure there are some ideological positions that are selection points but they are not all inclusive.  Now, I simply have become able to look deeper at the candidate and find out where we agree and focus there as opposed to vilifying where we disagree.

I shout – I am a mugwump – and I am proud!

More should be mugwumps, in my opinion.  If we had more mugwumps we may have less, and more effective government because ideological pandering would no longer be profitable.

So, in the end I ask you: Consider a mugwump!  Perhaps you have an inner mugwump yearning to be free!