THE GOOD OLD DAYS

What a transformation would take place in politics if candidates for all major offices would fire their media consultants, renounce dirty tricks and negative campaigning, refuse to accept soft money needed to air expensive and often misleading thirty-second television sound bytes, and agree to a series of appearances in which they would go one-on-one on the issues.

Robert Caro in Lyndon Johnson: The Path to Power, devotes quite a number of pages to the life of Sam Rayburn, who was Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1940 to 1961.

At the turn of the 20th century Rayburn was running for office in Texas. He rode a little brown cow pony, going from town to town and farm to farm. Later in the campaign, however, he and his opponent, Sam Gardner of Honey Grove, went together from town to town in a one-horse buggy. When they got to a town, they would take turns standing in the back of the buggy and speaking. During that campaign, Gardner became seriously ill for three days and could not debate.

Although Rayburn was trailing, he refused to campaign while Gardner was ill. Instead, he stayed at Gardner's bedside and nursed him back to health. Caro writes that after the election (which Rayburn won), Gardner and Rayburn became lifelong friends.

Here is a paradox. Although Rayburn and Gardner campaigned at a time when there was no television and no radio, they recognized their serious obligation to bring the issues to the people despite physical hardships and personal inconvenience. They recognized the importance of people seeing them together.

In their day the candidates did not have an entourage of handlers -- media consultants, pollsters, talking heads, makeup artists, and spin doctors to put the candidate in the best possible light after the debate. Just a horse and buggy with Rayburn and Gardner aboard.

I am not one who lives in the past and yearns for the “good old days,” so don’t bring back the horse and buggy. But do bring back candidates who know what civility and democracy are all about.

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