Mudflats Chats -- After the Election with Scott McAdams

[Blue_In_AK]

http://www.themudflats.net/2010/11/24/mudflats-chats-after-the-election-with-scott-mcadams/?#comment-236454

This is a nice interview that Jeanne Devon did with Scott McAdams after the election. I was so impressed with Scott -- I certainly hope he runs for statewide office again. We need people like him in Washington.

I had the opportunity to sit down with former U.S. Senate candidate Scott McAdams and talk informally with him about the campaign. It was so informal, there was ice cream involved – the best way to interview someone if you ask me. It was only a few days after the election and I wanted to get his thoughts and reflections on the campaign while it was still fresh in his mind, and before he traveled back home to Sitka. The former Mayor has now resumed his job as the head of the local Community Schools program. His immediate goal? To establish a top-notch youth basketball program. His future goals? I asked him in our interview.

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Devon: This has been an unbelievable journey for you, from the moment at the Democratic Convention in Sitka when the bug was put in your ear about running to today. In less than a year you’ve been on a real roller coaster ride. Is there anything you’ve discovered about yourself that you didn’t know?

McAdams: I think that it may be surprising to people, but so many elements of this campaign were familiar because of experience. Even though the ADN and others started picking up on Lisa’s messaging – that was one of the other things other than running out of time, that I think led to our loss especially with Democrats who voted for Lisa – was this argument that somehow there wasn’t enough experience there.

I’m trying to think of something that was really unique…. Maybe that is it, the fact of the matter that having spent the last eight years speaking in front of rooms of 20 prepared me to speak in front of rooms of 200.

And this isn’t something I learned about myself, but something I learned about Alaska that I didn’t know is that every one of our communities is more alike than we think, and that the common concerns among people are shared. People attribute different reasons for problems, but the concerns people have even across the ideological spectrum are more similar than you might think. I see people of great conviction who have very strong beliefs who are so much alike, only they just attribute problems to different sources – so that’s how their politics fall out. And I see people who are principled and intelligent and thoughtful who believe that the challenges that we face and the greatest threat to our future, is government. And then there are people who are just as smart, and just as principled and just as thoughtful, and just as aggressive about their point of view that the biggest issues facing our country are corporations. They think that the root cause of so many of our problems is the rise of corporate power. Of course, I tend to fall more out on the latter than the former.

Even communities are more alike than you might think. So, standing up in front of the Rotary in Palmer isn’t that much different than standing up in front of the Rotary in Sitka, even though those two towns are very different ideologically.

Devon: That’s a great perspective because there are so many philosophies that talk about that – that say that people really are the same. We seek to avoid pain and lack of necessities and we move toward healthy communities, a prosperous future for our children, resources that we can depend upon, all of the basic things that people want. They just want to be able to put in a good days work, get a fair paycheck, be able to raise their families and hope for a future that’s better for their kids than it was for them. And it doesn’t matter whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat or in the Tea Party or the Green Party, everybody wants that. And I’m really hopeful that more people will see things the way you see them in our state politics, and I hope that you will be an influence in that direction for people.

McAdams: Well, thank you.

Devon: People don’t want to see you leave. I’ve gotten tons of input on the blog and conversations with people who just say “You can’t leave. You’ve got to come back in some capacity and keep moving forward.” Because they really so much liked what you had to say. And now, looking at the practical aspect of it, now people know who you are. They don’t say “Who? McWhat?” like they were doing in the beginning of your campaign. Nobody even knew who you were, and it was a huge education in an eight week timeframe to get people to know. It would have been nice if people had started from that point, but now people do know who you are. They’ve heard you and they know your message. Speaking for myself, I hope this is the first step of many for you.

McAdams: Thank you. I appreciate that and I appreciate the good will and thoughts of so many of the supporters we’ve had through the course of this campaign. It’s amazing the energy that’s gone into this campaign.

And I would encourage people to look within themselves, to look around their communities and say an encouraging word to people. I’ve seen the talent out there, and you shouldn’t have to get an endorsement from Sarah Palin to be considered a viable candidate in Alaska. And shame on the people who believe that’s what makes somebody qualified for state-wide office. There are people just like me, with my experience who are ready to lead. We need to encourage and look for these folks because they’re all over. These folks are all around us.