04/18/12: Promises, promises

This op-ed appeared in The Virginian-Pilot on the date shown.

“A CHICKEN in every pot and a car in every garage.” So claimed a circular put out in 1928, urging voters to support Herbert Hoover for president. He won in a landslide.

Nearly all candidates for office make promises about what they will accomplish if elected. Virginia, with its perpetual campaign season, regularly exposes voters to these.

How can candidates continue to make promises they don’t keep? Because one of the little secrets of politics is that candidates know voters have short memories.

By the time the election for that office rolls around again, few remember the promises made. And even fewer make any attempt to match promises with accomplishments.

So I was pleasantly surprised to read in the The Virginian-Pilot’s Compass section Sunday that someone asked a candidate about a previous campaign promise. Norfolk is one of several Hampton Roads localities holding elections in a couple of weeks, on May 1.

In this case, the candidate is running for re-election — based on having kept previous campaign promises. That is, except the one in question.

Oops. Make that “some” promises kept.

The Compass article pointed out that one of the top issues in this campaign cycle is the School Board. Norfolk is one of only a few localities in Virginia to appoint its board rather than elect it. Efforts are under way to change that — again.

Which is the other part of voters’ short memories: an even shorter attention span. Today’s hot topics quickly become yesterday’s news, as something else grabs our attention and our energy.

Today, it is elected school boards. A couple of years ago, it was light rail. And before that, it was real estate taxes.

Who doesn’t remember driving through Norfolk and seeing the neon green “$1.08 in ’08” signs? Well, Norfolk never did get to $1.08.

Light rail opened with massive fanfare, despite the cost overruns.

And maybe 2012 will be the year Norfolk finally gets to vote on elected school boards.

By the way, Hoover didn’t actually make “the chicken in every pot and a car in every garage” promise. While he did campaign on the promise of prosperity, it was the Republican Party that made the assertion.

In the minds of voters, though, it was Hoover’s promise — and one that he didn’t keep. His explanation fell on deaf ears — the stock market crashed seven months after he took office — and the voters looked to someone else to lead them out of the Great Depression.

Nothing as earth-shattering as the Depression is within the control of our local elected officials. (Nor was it in the control of Hoover.) But we, as voters, have to hold those elected accountable for what they promise us.

We have to develop memories that last longer than the 24-hour news cycle. When they come around asking for our votes again, we have to be able to challenge them on those promises not kept.

We can then decide if the explanation for not doing so is sufficient, or whether they should be replaced.