So. How are you feeling today β about your life, our community, the country?
Iβve been feeling a bit meh, myself.
Weβre in unsettling times. This happens every presidential election, because itβs our time to take stock and think about the future. Weβre supposed to weigh possibilities and evaluate potential leaders from a group of qualified candidates.
The undercurrent of hopelessness I sense, and maybe Iβm projecting here, but itβs tied to the rise of Donald Trump. The realization that so many Americans agree with this sexist, racist and vapid con man is downright depressing. Add on the realization that Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is seen as the βreasonableβ and Republican mainstream alternative and weβre in angst overload territory.
On the Democratic side the animus is more personal between the two candidatesβ supporters. Allegiances have been made to Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton, and thatβs become a litmus test, even among friends. Value judgments and assumptions are made about the people in the otherβs camp, and things get nasty fast. The bigger goal is lost in personal pettiness.
In Arizona weβre facing a decision on Prop. 123, the measure that would get some more money into public schools in the near term, but at a long-term price.
People who are usually on the same side of issues, particularly on education, are divided. The quarrel isnβt over whether schools need, and legally are entitled to, more funding β the disagreement is over whether Prop. 123 is the way to get it done. The proposition would settle a lawsuit over the Legislatureβs elimination of inflation funding for schools, which back in 2000 voters mandated be paid.
Alternatives to properly fund schools are out there, proposed by Prop. 123 opponents, including state Treasurer Jeff DeWit and supported by a number of prominent Democrats.
That alliance brings together odd bedfellows β DeWit is the Arizona campaign chair for Trump. But for this, theyβre on the same side. Thatβs encouraging.
But even if the alternatives are the most brilliant ideas ever, theyβre not on the table. Theyβre not an option, and rejecting Prop. 123 as a fulcrum to get the Republicans to support something better is a losing bet.
My dadβs mom had a thing sheβd say about circumstances out of her control, like the weather or the bus running late: βEh, but what are you gonna do?β It was more of a figure of speech, I thought, but itβs evolved into a real question.
I acknowledge the discord in my position on Prop. 123. Itβs a bad deal. But thereβs no other way, in the near term, to change the atmosphere at the Capitol enough to get significantly more money into public schools.
We need to harness the energy from the presidential campaign into local politics, and to make changes in the Arizona Legislature. Get more Republicans to vote in their primaries, so better candidates end up in the general election. There are ways to improve the system, but they require the long game, and thatβs hard to sustain.
Iβve said it before β itβs easy to get discouraged about politics in Arizona. But the Prop. 123 discussion has created some alliances between people who donβt have much else in common.
That, at the very least, is a good start.
