Sheila Kennedy: Why I support ReCenter Indiana

I have very strong policy positions. Why would I support an organization focused upon centrists? The answer can be found in the way I understand the three principles of ReCenter: people over parties; results over rhetoric and patriotism over partisanship.

People over party

Too many Americans—and way too many Hoosiers—cast their votes based entirely upon the letter next to a candidate’s name. They consider the attributes of the individual candidate irrelevant. The result of treating elections as if they are team sports is the election of people who are unworthy of public office.

Results over rhetoric

I understand results over rhetoric to refer to the importance of a candidate’s individual integrity. We have elected far too many people willing to say anything—willing to pander to the party’s most rabid partisans—in order to win office. We deserve to know what every candidate actually believes, and what sort of behavior we can expect if and when that person is elected.

Patriotism over partisanship 

Patriotism over partisanship may be the most important principle of all: far too many “professional politicians” are willing to focus on the interests of their party over the common good. 

We can navigate our good faith differences; the danger comes from elevating candidates who do not act in good faith. We need to know who they are.

About Sheila

Sheila Kennedy is a ReCenter Indiana Advisory Board member and emerita professor of law and public policy at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IUPUI. Her daily blog, with articles, editorials, papers, and excerpts from her books, can be found at www.sheilakennedy.net