MISSOURI WATCH: POLITICS IS NOT OFFICIALLY A SPORT

Given sufficient tenure, public officials discover several truths about their constituents, namely you and me. It is not clear just when these truths are realized, but eventually, the smartest of the lot come to several conclusions that, unfortunately, are all to true. The moment of truth comes later for the less bright, but even this group eventually catches on to the rules of a game in which all of us are players

The first discovery comes when an ambitious candidate files for office. Since announcing one's candidacy for a public office requires a great deal of soul-searching, not to mention informal polling among the closest to the candidate, it can be assumed that the would-be officeholder has already envisioned himself as an occupant of the desired position. Such visions are, more often than not, rather grandiose, since there are few job-seekers for the lowest offices and a much greater umber for the highest echelon. Few picture themselves as Official County Collector of Refuse, while literally untold hundreds covet such a high-profile job as County Sheriff or State Senator.

Having filed, the candidate sets out to introduce himself to his or her future constituents, only to discover that except for a few close friends and a half dozen cousins, no one has really pictured the candidate in the office being sought and now look upon the would-be Sheriff or Senator as possessing few, if any, of the required qualifications. Since precious few candidate cards are ever saved to paste in the family album, our ambitious friend adopts a somewhat cynical view toward the public at large. It is then that the wannabe county, state or federal official adopts an ad hominem attitude that is designed to serve him well for the rest of his political life. Having failed to spark untold celebrations and dancing in the street upon his career embarkation, the candidate learns that the best way to attract public acclaim is to direct all of his efforts to appealing to widespread public prejudice, dark emotions, and special interests. The wise candidate, seeking a modicum amount of public support, realizes that he will not gain supporters, much less pluralities, by appealing to voters' intellect or reasoning. The reason is not that the voter lacks intellect or reasoning but because he does not attach such attributes to public office. This is known as the Anybody-Can-Do-That Syndrome, and while elected officials know this reasoning is fallacious, no one else does.

All too soon, candidates-turned-officials learn what are known as the Basic Rule of Political Survival. This entails learning the difference between information and knowledge, two entirely separate entities but often confused as being the same. Information is the gathering of facts, such as tax rates, the cost of campaign spots, the per diem allowance for legislative service, the voter turnout figures in the last election, the dates for filing campaign contributions, the future plans of the occupant of another coveted public office, the likelihood of an opponent in the next election and the desirability of attending a public function in which the public official will not be seated at the speaker's table. All of this is information, and virtually none of it is knowledge.

Unfortunately, knowledge is much more difficult to acquire. It comes with experience, hands-on job participation, memory. learning from past mistakes and acquiring still another seldom-found trait called vision. All of these require a great deal of time and effort, not to mention dedication on the part of the officeholder, and all of it is acquired with the knowledge that few, if any, of his or her constituents will ever know of its existence. Knowledge comes after gaining all the information needed to hold public office and then utilizing these facts to better serve the citizens, few of whom have any real interest in the nuts and bolts of positions most often viewed indifferently, and sometimes viewed negatively.

Some of these just expressed view are those of a dedicated public servant who has decided that his political life is expendable. Not because he has failed to achieve the public's respect, but because so few understand the real essence of what, for lack of a better phrase, is the democratic process. For the past several months I have done all that was possible to convince this splendid official that he was underestimating his constituents' view of his service. The other day he received an anonymous letter from a voter who wrote: "I can't wait for you to leave office!" It wasn't from his wife, so unfortunately he has now decided to heed a constituent and forfeit the game.

~Jack Stapleton of Kennett is the editor of the Missouri News and Editorial Service.