When Did Elected Office Become Therapy For The Weak?

You never get a second chance to make a first impression. When it comes to Steve Menard, Councilman for the great city of Wasilla, my first impression was sadly accurate.

The first time we met he was “running” the campaign for a longtime Mat-Su liberal. I knew nothing of neither Menard nor his candidate, so Menard handed me his business card and said “if you have any advice for us, we’d love to hear it.” I was a UAA poli-sci student and I, green as I was, couldn’t bite my tongue before I let slip out “get a new job.” I felt a little bad, but I mean come on, a political consultant/politician with a business card that literally said “Used Car Salesman?”

Unfortunately, that sort of embarrassing, dense, lazy mindset turned out to be the rule and not the exception with Mr. Menard.

It is unfortunate that everyone I know who has worked with Councilman Menard responded to his trashing of a hotel room and demanding the city be billed for it with a chorus of, “yeah, that sounds like Steve.”

It isn’t unfortunate for Steve Menard. It is unfortunate for the good people of Wasilla. In the dozens of embarrassing stories I could recount about Menard the only positive was it was only himself he embarrassed. Well, now he has gone pro with his shame game. Now he
can embarrass entire cities and regions in a single belch.

Mr. Menard has asked for forgiveness and said he is in AA (Alcoholics Anonymous).

It is in the nature of all of us to be forgiving. Little in life is harder than holding someone accountable who has wronged us and is asking for forgiveness. That twinge of humanity in the small of our back tugs at us to say “let it go, they’ve said they’re sorry.”

In this case, however, I think there is a principle no one is talking about. It isn’t that Mr. Menard should be punished for his actions. That would be just, but it also feels vindictive. The bigger point is that elected office isn’t the place for people to find themselves.Elected office isn’t the place for people to work thru their problems or issues. ELECTED OFFICE ISN’T THERAPY!!!

That may sound harsh, but it is also true. When we elect people who “need” the office to fill some hole in their soul we get Steve Menards and Vic Kohrings. These are the people who WILL embarrass us and WILL give in to corruption to maintain their position. They have to. They NEED their position of stature. Their fragile egos can not handle losing that tiny sliver of power and prestige. Without it they have nothing. Staring into that abyss drives them to overlook ethical
lines and ignore moral principles.

When we elect people to represent us we should be searching for the best of us, the smartest of us, the mature among us. Part of the reason for that is those are the people who have shown they can achieve while dealing with responsibility and pressure. In short,
they have shown they don’t need the office we want them for.