That was Alexander Pope. Niel Kinnock was more specific:Loyalty is a fine quality, but in excess it fills political graveyards. 29 years ago, I got involved in a 2-year campaign, where the race for reelection one year was part of gearing up for the main event the following year.
That first year, the only difficult part was the Assembly primary, where we won resoundingly. The general election only attracted attention because we needed a big margin and a well-rehearsed organization for a congressional primary the following year.
Part of the attention we attracted was help from the head of a small but quite active town Young Democratic club. He wasn't even old enough to vote and his town was in a completely different part of the county from the legislative district. But he was tall, handsome, personable, and the son of a councilman, and his presence was both useful to us and raised his own profile (as well as a few eyebrows) in the county as a whole.
The next Spring, he signed on to the congressional campaign, which we weren't at all sure he would do. And with his town inside the congressional district, he and his Young Democrat crew became most of our field operation in his town.
Until one day, when they were partway through a multi-day lit drop for us, I got a call from the one ideologically motivated young volunteer we had in that town. He alerted me that the local Young Democrats were out distributing literature for the opposing candidate. As he later explained to me (we worked together for several years afterward) our personable Young leader had figured out that we were probably going to lose, and in any case, there were many more people on the other side that it was to his advantage to work with.
Our son of a councilman is now one of the few dozen most powerful people in the state. I wouldn't bet against him being governor some day. He's one of the most prominent people outside of South Jersey to have taken on a role in the Andrews campaign, raising his own profile at the same time as he lends the Andrews campaign added credibility.
But I can't help but wonder, if Andrews truly is looking at another state-wide run next year, how likely he thinks the ongoing support of my old friend is. And I wonder what my old friend thinks about that, too.
At least they all play from the same playbook. Some may live by and expect from others a degree of loyalty to others or to one's own word that makes one's behavior rather predictable. The manner of Andrews' entry into the race clearly places him outside such naive circles. So here's to Neal Kinnock and an interesting 2009. |
