Welcome to my site -Random thoughts on issues
of today and yesterday.
A sad tale of the political times in which we live …….
Recent events that include adverse claims about high level individuals in politics, business, Hollywood, etc., remind me of a beginning turmoil I experienced when I was Chairman of the Indiana Republican Party back in the 1980’s. It was a time when times were changing. In the 1960’s, when, under the leadership of a guy named L. Keith Bulen, we took control of the Marion County, Indiana, Republican Party. After taking control Keith told us we didn’t take control just for the sake of doing so but to accomplish something purposeful. We set out to establish three clear purposes. They were, 1. Create a Metropolitan form of government for the county (UniGov) to make government more efficient. 2. To create a University of Indianapolis under the thinking that no city can be great without a great university. And 3., to always put forth qualified candidates for election.
We accomplished purpose number 1 and UniGov still functions. Purpose number 2 was more difficult because I.U. and Purdue grads did not want to give up Indiana University Purdue University of Indianapolis (IUPUI) to a different name and eventually Indiana Central was wise enough to grab off the name. As for the third purpose, we sought out highly qualified candidates for public office –physicians, lawyers, business people, educators, etc. We ran a CPA for county treasurer, a physician for coroner. We also had some “simply average” folks in the mix. Our quality candidates won for 25 or so years, but then it became more and more difficult to entice high quality individuals to seek public office.
During my term as GOP chairman I found it increasingly difficult to recruit high quality individuals. The primary reason being the destructive instincts of the opposing party and the media encouraging them to tear into an individual who has high public approval. Most would prefer to prolong their high public approval – built over decades – without some stupid offense created when they were in high school, college, or early in life being blasted to the public. Sexually abusing a person of the opposite sex unable to protect herself against a stronger male, an employer, etc., cannot be tolerated. But “making out” in the back seat at a drive-in movie in the 1950’s may not fall into that more corrosive behavior – unless we are talking about today. Then it may.
But back on my topic of why we often have people of diminished quality seeking office, and representing us in legislative bodies. It is primarily because people of “quality” do not want to lose their reputation because of some act, or implied act, of decades ago. One of the easiest ways to lose your reputation is to seek public office and let the media, and your opponents, tear into you over some rumor of the past. Voters tend to believe what they hear on the TV or read in the paper about misconduct of candidates for public office and office holders, even though their belief in the news media continues to hit all-time lows. But now we have social media, published by people we know and/or like. Social media can say anything, and some candidates, by facial expression, past actions or statements make it easier for voters to believe the charges against them. Roy Moore and Al Frankton come to mind as prime examples. There is a presumption among the public that everyone in public office is beneath contempt. We happily take down quality office holders such as Dick Lugar and nominate candidates who will have difficulty winning in the fall. Again, Roy Moore is a good example. Voters like to blame others for the result of their vote.
It was becoming difficult in the 1980’s for me to find high quality and qualified people to seek legislative office. By the second decade of the 21st century it has become almost impossible.
Voter can change all that. If they will.
Gordon Durnil November 2017
“He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.” - Benjamin Franklin
Cabinet Room, 1988, Gordon on the left of the Gipper.
Gordon Durnil is a lawyer, mediator, manager, diplomat, politician, speaker, author, and a problem solver.
*Author of a book published by the Indiana University Press in 1995, The Making of a Conservative Environmentalist. The book received rave international reviews - The New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Baltimore Sun, Montreal Gazette, Chemical & Engineering News, and many others. The New York Times said Durnil advanced “one of the single boldest environmental policy ideas of the 1990's?” He participated in more than 150 radio, television and newspaper interviews about his book in the U.S. and Canada. In 1995 and 1996 he conducted an extensive speaking tour throughout North America on the subject of conservative environmentalism. His second book of nonfiction, Is America Beyond Reform?, Sligo Press, 1997, also received great reviews and he again conducted extensive interviews throughout the nation. His third book, Throwing Chairs and Raising Hell: Politics in the Bulen Era, Guild Press, was published in December 1999. He also has a chapter in the book, Protecting Public Health & the Environment: Implementing the Precautionary Principle, Island Press, 1999.
*Durnil served as United States Chairman of the International Joint Commission for four and one-half years. Appointed by President George Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Achieved international recognition for leadership in shared water resources, in the development of new ideas regarding the use of persistent toxic substances, and for recommendations to accomplish the needed overhaul of contemporary environmental protection concepts. He served as Head Of Delegation, for the International Joint Commission, at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (June 4-13, 1992). In 1994 he received the prestigious National Wildlife Federation Conservation Achievement Award. In 2006 Durnil was presented the Pioneer of Precaution Award by the Center for Health, Environment & Justice, and also sponsored by Science Environmental Health Network and Environmental Research Foundation for his early work on the Precautionary Principle.
*Served in a management position in 41 Indiana Republican statewide campaigns (36 were winners) - U.S. Senators, Governors, Presidents (Lugar, Quayle, Coats, Orr, Nixon, Reagan, Bush), etc. Served as Indiana Republican State Chairman longer than anyone in state history (8 years). Also served on the Executive Committee of the Republican National Committee during the Reagan years. He raised more funds for the Indiana Republican Party and GOP candidates than anyone in Hoosier history through 1989 (over $32 million). Delegate to Republican National Conventions (1968-1996). He served as Executive Secretary of the 2000, 2002, 2004 & 2006 Indiana Republican Platform Committee and was responsible for drafting those platforms. He was named Honorary Chairman of the Indiana Republican State Convention in 2006.
*Durnil has served as a Deputy Marion County Prosecutor, Deputy Indiana Attorney General and as an elected judge in Marion County. He was a founding board member and Finance Chairman for the Indiana Ronald McDonald House. The Indianapolis Manual High School Alumni Association selected him as the 2000 Alumnus of the Year. He was inducted into the Sigma Pi Hall of Fame in 2009. He is a co-chairman of the Bulen Symposium on American Politics at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. Durnil is a graduate of the Indiana University School of Business with a B.S. in Marketing, and a graduate of the Indiana University School of Law with a Doctor of Jurisprudence. Married, the father of two and the grandfather of two, he is listed in Who's Who In The World, Who's Who In America, Who's Who In American Law and Who's Who In American Politics.
Gordon K. Durnil, Attorney At Law, P.O. Box 90106, Indianapolis, Indiana 46290-0106 E-mail: gdurnil@aol.com
