The Right Questions to Get the Right Stuff

We just got past an election a month ago. It was an off-year election, but here we had a very important school board problem to take care of. That took a lot of energy to accomplish. But now, before we even have time to breathe and enjoy the holidays, the primary election season is upon us.

In a primary election, you get to choose who your candidates will be to represent your party. In some cases, when an area is strong in your party, say R+7 or so (meaning Republicans, based on past voting history, are expected to win by 7 percentage points), then what you’re likely doing in the primary is choosing your next representative, because the November election will be mostly a formality.

That’s the situation for our congressional race. Texas got two new congressional seats following the US census. One of them plopped down in Houston, and that affected my area. I’m now part of the new CD 38. There are eight Republican candidates. We heard from seven of them in a forum last Wednesday evening, for precinct chairs and their invited volunteers. We’ll have another forum two weeks later, in a larger place for all interested Republican voters. We heard from several candidates at our November Tea Party meeting, and we’re hearing from several more this month. I haven’t committed yet, but I’m leaning toward a candidate, someone I know well, who is very knowledgeable about the Constitution and conservative principles. I believe that’s what we need. I’m resistant to some higher-level party apparatus that is pushing a candidate who has not yet connected with the grassroots.

Another important race is the Harris County Judge position. In larger counties like ours, the County Judge is an administrative position. They work with the Commissioners Court to decide on policy and budget decisions. The County Judge we have now got in three years ago, when there was a huge amount of outside money supporting the Beto O’Rourke campaign for Senate, which fortunately failed against Ted Cruz. But the money did have the ability to tip the scales in Harris County, which had been 50-50 Democrat-Republican for some time and has crept slightly more Democratic the past few years. The County Judge, Lina Hidalgo, was elected as a 27-year-old without job experience. Harris County is maybe the second largest such local government entity in the US, with more than four million people. Hidalgo has been both incompetent and corrupt.

There are four Republican candidates in this race, and we should hear from all of them at this month’s Tea Party meeting.

We precinct chairs are hoping we can make our decisions in these races early, so we have campaign time before the March 1^st election.

In this effort to vet and choose candidates, we ask a lot of questions. Most of the time we only get a few minutes of speech plus a brief Q&A for each candidate, which is why we need multiple forums. There’s a group in Northwest Harris County that does a questionnaire as well, so I look forward to seeing that.

In the meantime, I’ve been thinking about the kinds of questions I’d like to ask. Some questions must deal with the particular duties of the job being sought. But some things are more principle based. And, particularly for the US Congress seat, understanding the Constitution—and loving it—is essential.

There are people who see politics, and campaigns, as a sort of sport. I do not. I see it as a serious duty for citizens to govern themselves. I want the best representation we can get. And I believe this is more urgent today than it has ever been. In each race, we need the best person to win, for all our sakes. Maybe asking the right questions will help us find the people with the right stuff.

Back in 2013, another off-election year after a presidential election year, I wrote a series of questions, based on the Spherical Model, with questions related to the Political, Economic, and Social Spheres. I find that these are still useful. There are a few issue-related questions I included in that post. So I’m repeating all of those, and then adding a few that seem relevant today. Feel free to ask these of any candidates you get a chance to talk to.

Political Sphere

·       What do you believe is the proper role of government, and what are the limits?

·       Do you have favorite portions of the US Constitution, and/or any portions that you think ought to be changed, clarified, or improved?

·       When the US Supreme Court makes a ruling that you believe is at odds with the Constitution, what do you think the executive and/or legislative branches should do in response to the ruling?

·       What do you believe is the proper balance between public safety and individual freedom, and what do you believe government needs to do to reach that balance?

·       Who are your favorite examples of a good president—since 1900—and what about them do you admire?

·       How do you define extremists, and what views do you think are examples of extreme?

 

Economic Sphere

·       What do you believe is the optimum percentage of GNP that should be taken in taxes?

·       What do you believe is the government’s role in contributing to economic health? For example, if there is a sudden recession (as we were hit with in 2008), how should government react?

·       What do you believe is government’s role in the distribution of income when there’s a wide discrepancy between the poor and the wealthy?

·       What do you believe should be government’s role in charitable help to the poor and suffering?

·       What do you believe are the purposes and limits of the commerce clause of the Constitution?

·       What do you believe is the role of the Federal Reserve, and how/whether it is benefiting the economy?

 

Civilization Sphere

 

·       What do you believe about the connection between moral values and the law?

·       Which institution is most responsible for raising a generation that will benefit society, and why: schools, government, churches, nonprofit organizations, sports teams, families?

·       Which constituency’s desires is public education best accountable to, and why: US government, state government, local government, teachers, students, parents/taxpayers?

·       What do you believe should be government’s role in homeschooling, private schools, charter schools, and school choice?

·       What do you think is government’s role in defining marriage, and why? 

 

Specific Issue Questions

·       What are your feelings concerning Obamacare, and what do you think should be done?

·       What do you believe are the motivations of people who support traditional (man/woman) marriage and family?

·       What are your beliefs about border security and immigration?

·       What do you believe is the proper role of government concerning climate?

·       What do you see as the US role in the world, and what is your view of the UN?

·       What are your opinions on national debt, national deficit, tax increases and/or cuts, and national budget?

 

New Questions This Year

·       It is likely that the Supreme Court will overturn Roe v. Wade this year. How do you see Texas and the United States moving forward on this issue?

·       In the Declaration of Independence, we dissolved political bands, not for “light and transient causes,” but for a “long train of abuses and usurpations.” Assuming that restoring and preserving our Constitution is the goal, could there be a catalyst for dissolving political bands, intended to be indivisible, and returning Texas to an independent nation? What would trigger such an action after the long train of abuses and usurpations we’re already seeing?

·       One of the actual responsibilities of the federal government is protection of our national borders. When the federal government fails in that duty, what should our state do to protect our sovereignty?

·       When the government deprives a person of property, such as a business, as it did during the pandemic shutdowns, what is the government’s obligation to restore that property to those who were deprived of it?

·       Is there anything that can/should be done about election law crimes of the past election? And what do you see as the way to restore election integrity going forward?

·       While conservatives generally support freedom for business, what can/should we do when large monopolies censor certain points of view on their platforms, or companies make requirements for employment or attendance based on private health decisions?