Our humble take on the July 17 runoff

Our humble take on the July 17 runoff

Last fall, we founded Citizens Against Politics As Usual (CAPAU). We did so because we believe the government in Washington is hopelessly broken. It simply doesn't work any more, and it hasn't for at least the past 15 years. We also know that both political parties are responsible for the deadlock in the puzzle palaces that line the banks of the Potomac and on Capitol Hill.

And while the Congresses and presidents have shirked their responsibility to lead and to govern, the nation's peril grows. The peril goes far beyond the faltering economy, an anemic recovery and skyrocketing national debt. It gnaws at the foundations of all that Americans hold dear: individual freedom, liberty and self-governance — the essence of our cherished way of life.

As far as we are concerned, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party no longer deserve our support because they have chosen to put their own self-interests above our interest, the public interest. The brutal truth of that reality stares all of us in the face.

It doesn't make a scintilla of difference which political party controls the White House or the Congress. The hard fact of the matter is that there is no coherent, agreed-upon plan to ignite the floundering economy. There is no plan that gives hope of adequate job creation. There is no plan to tamp down the spiraling growth of the national debt. There is no plan to free America from its bondage and addiction to Middle East oil.

There is no plan to reform an immigration system that works against our national well-being. There is no plan to reform an income tax system that has been twisted by lobbyists' self-serving amendments into a labyrinth that only they understand and derive benefit from. There is no plan to lift the educational skills of our young people and the vocational skills of many more in the interconnected world of information technology.

No, instead of plans, instead of action, instead of reasonable compromise, we have had years of increasingly bitter stalemate in Washington in which the two parties attempt to persuade us that all the blame belongs on the shoulders of their opponents. If that is all they will do, they don't deserve our support. And that is why CAPAU calls for the defeat of all incumbents.

Happily, voters here in the 11th Congressional District of North Carolina don't need to worry about that issue this year. Our incumbent congressman, Heath Shuler, has taken himself off the field of play. Thus, our task is to pick the individual best equipped to replace him. And that brings us to the runoff election July 17 between Mark Meadows and Vance Patterson. In the Republican primary in May, Mr. Meadows won, but he did not win more than 40 percent of the vote, thus requiring a runoff between him and Mr. Patterson, who came in second.

We interviewed Mr. Patterson at length on June 13. We interviewed Mr. Meadows at length on June 14. And we attended the two-hour spirited debate between them sponsored by the Henderson County Tea Party on June 19.

This runoff may well be the decisive election in respect of selecting Western North Carolina's next congressman. We say that because of congressional redistricting based on the 2010 census. The state Legislature has significantly changed the district boundaries for many of North Carolina's congressional districts, including ours here in the Mountains. Those changes appear to have given the Republican Party an advantage by 6-7 percent.

We believe Mr. Meadows and Mr. Patterson have much in common. They strike us as intelligent, honest, ethical and patriotic. Both are successful businessmen with significant experience in the private sector. Both put faith and family at the center of their lives. Both understand that Washington is broken, and each says that, if elected, he won't go up there and become part of the same-old, same-old. Both oppose much of what President Barack Obama and the liberal Democrats have done or tried to do.

Thus, in our judgment, this choice is a close call. That said, we believe the edge, a clear edge, goes to Mr. Meadows. We believe he has a clearer grasp of the breadth and severity of the problems facing the nation and the necessity of forging workable legislative solutions that are broadly acceptable In the House of Representatives. If he actually delivers on that promise, he will have served all of the residents of this district well — not just those who voted for him. If elected, it's the standard to which all of us should hold him. You can be certain that CAPAU will hold whomever is elected to that standard.

Our purpose here has been to tell you what we think. It has not been to tell you how to vote. That is and should be your decision. We do, however, urge you to inform yourself and then vote in the GOP runoff July 17 if you are a registered Republican or an unaffiliated registrant who did not vote a Democratic ballot in the May primary.

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