“I certainly learned over the years that elections matter,” said Henry Barbour. The Yazoo City native, who spent 20 years as the Mississippi GOP’s voice on the Republican National Committee, was speaking to the North Jackson Rotary Club.
“And elected officials must be about more than just getting reelected,” he continued. “They have one job and that's to take care of the people – all the people, not just the folks in your party, not just the folks that look like you or live in your neighborhood, all the people.
“Their job is to lead on the issues, to focus on policy – policy over politics. And I don't mind saying we're far from that in the current political environment.”
Barbour’s thoughts come from deep experience. A key figure in Mississippi Republican politics for three decades, Barbour served as White House liaison for the U.S. Department of Energy under President George H. W. Bush in the 1980s and has advised other presidential candidates as well as managed congressional and gubernatorial campaigns. Elected national committeeman in 2005, he was known for his bridge-building approach to politics. In 2005, he also became a partner at Capitol Resources, LLC, a prominent political consulting firm.
“I'm here to tell you that both political parties have got real issues,” he told Rotarians. “I think it's a mess. And that's not to say there aren't some really good people on both sides of the aisle. But too many elected officials, in my opinion and I don't think too many people would argue, are in the self-promotion business. They play to the crowd. And I just think we need to do better.”
Barbour framed his remarks around America’s 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. He began his speech reading parts of Thomas Jefferson’s “greatest work.”
“It's been 250 years since our founding fathers decided freedom was worth fighting for,” he said. “250 years later, I think the founders would be astounded by our growth, our success, and yes, our shortcomings.”
“We are the most blessed people on the planet. And, certainly for me, it's easy to take those blessings for granted. It's too easy for me to forget the price for my freedom, my liberty."
Noting Benjamin Franklin’s answer in 1787 to the question about what the constitutional convention had accomplished – “A republic, if you can keep it,” Barbour pointed to Jefferson’s last line in the Declaration – “we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”
“The story of the American Revolution and the birth of our nation should help remind us what matters,” he said.
Elections matter.
“Be diligent in these matters …Watch your life and doctrine closely” – 1 Timothy 15-16.
Bill Crawford is an author and syndicated columnist from Jackson.
