Columns

I had thought I’d seen it all — paying attention to the news after so many years will do that to you. Politics becomes so predictable, advocacy so redundant, today’s story so much like yesterday’s. The news, like history, tends to repeat itself.

But last week I read a story in the Roswell Daily Record unlike any I’d ever seen before. In the Chaves County town of Hagerman, population 1,200 or so, no one voted in the school board election. That’s right, nobody. Nada. Zero. Zip. Not even the candidates themselves.

By Rick Kraft

The elderly couple was driving down the country road in their old pickup truck when they saw a young couple in a shiny new pickup coming toward them from the other direction. The young man was driving and the young lady was sitting right next to him, almost in his lap. He had his left hand on the steering wheel and his right arm was behind her neck resting on her shoulder. She was looking at her man with adoration, giving him all of the attention that any young lady could possibly give.

Look into the eyes of the next youngster you see, whether it’s an 8-year-old learning to read, a pre-teen wondering how to fit in or an 18-year-old trying to decide between work, college or both. Look deep into their eyes and ask yourself: What have I done to help this young person succeed?

As politicians, policymakers and bureaucrats gather in Santa Fe to plot the best way forward, too much time and energy are spent plotting how to regain or retain a political advantage. We need to work more on improving the education our children receive.

Remember the sign that James Carville, then a strategist for Bill Clinton in his 1992 run for the presidency, put up at campaign headquarters? “It’s the economy, stupid” was the simple message he posted, so campaign workers would stay on message — and, indeed, they did.