EDITOR:
In the 1972 movie "The Candidate" Robert Redford's character, Bill MacKay, is elected to the U.S. Senate after an intense, whirlwind campaign during which his handlers tell him everything he is to do or say. Upon realizing his victory, he turns to his consultant and asks, earnestly, "What do I do now?"
We were subject to an intense level of campaigning during this 2010 mid-term campaign. We were assailed with a continuous barrage of radio and TV ads, phone calls, knocks at the door, posters, and endless circulars in our mail; it really did make us feel as though we had run in a campaign. And we said, "Glad that's over with."
What most folks in this country do after an election is leave everything up to the successful candidate and let the chips fall where they may. But what really must happen now is for us, the citizenry, to follow through on our civic duty by keeping those officeholders aware of the fact that they work for us, not the other way around.
Too long has the populace allowed the officeholders to "manage" on their own like teenagers whose permissive parents have allowed their child too great a degree of latitude and worse, exercised little or no discipline.
Ronald Reagan, in dealing with the Soviet Union, once said of his confidence in the Russians, "Trust, but verify." During their terms of office, we also must trust but verify our elected officials by keeping abreast of what they are doing with our public trust.
It is our civic responsibility to hold our officeholders' feet to the fire to assure that the affairs of this country are being properly conducted. That responsibility did not end at the ballot box last Tuesday. It continues throughout the term of office until the next election. That's when you get to say, "Hey, I've watched you during this term and I think you really did measure up to what I expected. Have another term on me." But if it's the other way around we say, "See ya!"
Citizens of Nevada, this is just a reminder that our watch phrase during these terms of office should not only be, "Trust but verify," but also, as Missourians say, "Show me."
Walter M. Nowosad
Sunridge
