An American Tune

For a special blog post, I wanted to turn the reigns over to Mike Conner Jr.

Mike is running for the City Council of Knoxville, Iowa. He is active in Libertarian Party politics. He is also a friend of the Iowa Caucus Guy blog and has a political insight I greatly respect. When he told me this story, I asked him to share it, since I found it very unique. In the world of retweets and forwarded memes, we could use some healthy discourse, and this is a great example of that actually taking place.


In my years working in management, I can't count the times leadership recommended the popular book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It's been a mainstay on my desk and library for years, and a reference point to how I lead both my professional and personal life. In his book, Steven Covey encouraged readers to "Seek first to understand then to be understood." This quote is something that I take to heart as I dive headfirst into today's political climate as a first time candidate for City Council in Knoxville, IA. The more I talk to people in my community, the more it becomes obvious that our country's leaders are more focused on making splashy headlines and playing partisan politics than seeking to understand voters from all political spectrums. This is something that drove me away from my previous party 5 years ago, and the reason I'm drawn to running for local office which, in Iowa, is non-partisan.


Tribal politics is tearing our country apart, and the only way to heal it is to come together and build a coalition that is focused on uniting our country regardless of party. Our country's goal should be to shift from motivated reasoning; this creates cognitive dissonance, which only contributes in driving the partisan wedge deeper into our country. Instead we need to focus on being objective regardless of party. To do this we have to resist the urge to only scrutinize analysis that threaten our beliefs. We need to to be open to, and willing to interpret differing political ideologies rather than treating them as an enemy that needs to be wiped out. Only then will we see the change that is so desperately needed in America.


The partisanship that's poisoning our nation has also changed the way I look at our upcoming presidential election. At the beginning of the election cycle, I challenged myself to take Covey's quote to heart, and truly seek to keep an open mind about the candidates and their policies, regardless of party. I'll be the first to admit that this is easier said than done, especially considering how divisive the rhetoric, policies, and media has become, but I would like to think that I've held firm on the challenge I set for myself for the most part.


This is why when the Pete Buttigieg campaign reached out to me two weeks ago to ask if I would take some time to meet with them, I jumped at the opportunity. I informed them right off the bat that I am not a Democrat, and although I'm also not a Republican, there are a number of policies that we would most likely disagree on. The fact that this not only didn't discourage them, but in fact seemed to excite them was encouraging. I've talked to a number of candidates and campaigns this cycle that, upon hearing my political preference, doesn't necessarily turn me away, but certainly lost interest, so this was a welcome change of pace.


I've been working on political campaigns since Fred Thompson's 2008 presidential campaign, and I know the standard drill for meetings like this; sell your candidate, field questions, sell some more, and ask for support. If that support isn't there, politely shake their hand, and move onto the next potential supporter. Because of this experience, I had nearly two pages of questions prepared going into the meeting. To my surprise, our meeting started off with the gentlemen inquiring about my run for city council, and the next 30 minutes was spent discussing the campaign. They inquired about my motivation, my campaign strategy, and what local issues are impacting the community. It wasn't until the last 15 minutes of the meeting that we got into Mayor Pete and national issues. Even then, I'm pretty sure that the fresh faced campaigners would have spent the rest of our meeting picking the brain of this small town candidate had I not interjected and brought up the list of questions I had prepared. In the end, rather than asking for my support in the caucus, they offered their time to help my campaign by coming out to Knoxville this fall and door knock.



Is this standard practice for the Buttigieg campaign? Is it a one off experience that I was fortunate enough to be a part of? I can't say. What I can say is that it is an honor to have a national campaign reach out to a small town political junkie, and a breath of fresh air in today's political climate. Does it change my potential vote come 2020? Most likely not, but I definitely gained a whole new respect for the campaign and for the mayor from South Bend, Indiana.