McGuire responds to letter in last week's News-Herald
I am responding to a submission in your last issue by David Anderson of Lonsdale with a clarification regarding some of the information he provided in his letter.
While it is true that I respectfully declined to submit the MCCL endorsement questionnaire, I would add that I also did the same with the NARAL endorsement questionnaire.
For the benefit of your readers, I would like to describe the nature of these questionnaires. In both cases, candidates are asked to answer a series of questions with only a “yes” or “no” response. In fact, the questionnaire instructions specifically forbid candidates from offering any kind of explanation or reasoning in their response to questions involving extremely complex issues. This format prevents them from offering any meaningful information about their stance on these issues. In both cases, the organizations are using these questionnaires as nothing more than litmus tests.
Complex issues require more thoughtful and nuanced answers than a simple “yes” or “no” response. Mr. Anderson may call this “smoke and mirrors,” but I believe that most people don’t see the world simply in black or white. As a candidate who seeks to represent House District 25A – in all its diversity—I believe it would be a disservice to see just the black or the white, without consideration of the many shades of gray in between.
I for one believe that there are too many polarizing influences in our current politics. This is one of the reasons I have chosen to run for the State House of Representatives. I do not come to this campaign, as some do, with a strong ideological agenda. Instead, I promise two things: to listen and to do my best to serve my constituents.
Mick McGuire
Mayor of Montgomery
Candidate for House District 25A
Source: Le Sueur News-Herald Thursday, August 19, 2010
