Tip O'Neill said it best: "All politics is local." While he spent a lifetime fighting for the principles of liberalism on a national level, he never forgot that it was his constituency's needs — and his ability to fulfill those needs — that dictated his re-election. From his early opposition to the Vietnam War to his decision as Speaker of the House to investigate Richard Nixon, and from his initial election to the Massachusetts Statehouse in 1936 to his retirement from the House of Representatives in 1987, he stood up for principles in general, and for his voters in particular.
It's an important time in the history of American Mensa to think about Tip O'Neill. We are facing an election next year that will have a great impact on how Mensa is run, who runs it, and whether power is consolidated at the local or the national level. If Tip O'Neill were a Mensan and running in this election, he would likely campaign on a platform of keeping national only those things that truly benefit all Mensans, and putting everything else back into the hands of the local authorities, as he preached in corollary for so many years on the Hill.
But O'Neill is not one of our choices this year. In fact, as this issue goes to press, we do not know who our choices will be; petition candidates still have months to file and the Nominating Committee will not determine its list for approximately another month. Still, it is not too early to decide what kind of elected officials we want. Defining the issues that matter now will help in querying the candidates later, whosoever they may be.
To me, politics — American or Mensan — is very personal. In my family, if you are old enough to stand and lick an envelope, you are old enough to help support your relatives in their campaigns. I take voting very seriously; I've missed only one primary or general election (a local School Board one) since getting suffrage.
As an adult, I choose to be involved because I know that who gets elected can have profound effects on my life, and the lives of those about whom I care. Further, the issues close to the hearts of the candidates are the issues they will bring to the forefront if elected. As an active Mensan, I care greatly about the organization; I want to see it run by people who share my feelings about how things need to be accomplished, and about what those things are.
I didn't always feel this way about Mensa. When I first joined, it seemed that there were activities put on by whoever put them on, and one could choose to attend or not. The newsletter was the newsletter, and both regional and national were nonentities in my life. Then I became an involved Mensan, and I found out how wrong my earlier thinking had been. On the local level, good leadership means an active chapter with more activities, and more chances to interact with other local Mensans. Alternatively, poor leadership on the local level means strife and infighting — and that those few activities held can become incredibly uncomfortable.
I was chosen to head our chapter's Regional Gathering (RG) of three years ago. And then I did it again the following year. Both events were great experiences; everything went well. Then our region got a new Regional Vice Chairman (RVC), who made the simple act of getting an RG approved a Herculean task. This RVC had run unopposed, following on the heels of one of the best RVCs our region had ever had. If I had known what that election would mean to my daily life for the first year of the RVC's term, I would have been a candidate in that race. I didn't know how much of an effect an RVC could have on an individual or a local group.
Likewise, I didn't know until earlier this year the effect that the AMC could have on an individual. A good AMC is membership oriented and responsive to the needs of the membership, and such an AMC cares more about the membership and its needs than anything else.
Currently, after the AMC meets, two sets of Minutes are published. The first is an abbreviated set, available a few days after the meeting. The second, which is more detailed, is made available as soon as possible, generally a few days after the "mini-minutes." This is an example of having an AMC Secretary who is membership oriented. If, for example, a non-member-oriented person were elected to the position (and again, we don't know who the candidates will be; I imply nothing about anyone in particular), he or she might publish only mini-minutes, assuming that the electorate had no need to know the details. But, when there are only four national meetings a year, it's often the nuances, the names and the phrases, that make all the difference in what we can learn from meeting minutes.
The biggest challenges Mensa faces right now involve three issues: centralization vs. decentralization of the organization; how Mensa will reorient itself with respect to changes in communication modes; and how this orientation will affect reaching the membership. How you feel about these issues should be a factor in deciding whom you will vote for next year. That being the case, it pays to research the issues and to know what questions to ask.
Many people wonder: "But what can I do? I'm only one person, and the organization is so big!" `Regular folks' get involved in politics because of the way in which something directly affects their lives. Major political movements are frequently started by something personal: Rosa Parks' refusal to move to the rear of the bus launched the civil rights movement; "Jane Roe" (a pseudonym) started the eventual Roe v. Wade Supreme Court case that legalized abortion; Mrs. James Brady single-handedly fought for the three-day waiting period to buy handguns after her husband was shot with one. The list of personal motivations for public actions is endless, and personal motivation applies directly to the upcoming Mensa elections.
One caveat: Sometimes it isn't the issue that matters — it is the person. The most telling campaign in that regard occurred when Edward Edwards (an ex-convict, as well an ex-governor) ran against David Duke, who was a Grand Dragon in the Ku Klux Klan. Edwards' bumper stickers read: "Vote for the crook; it's important." The choice between a crook and a racist was pretty simple to many of us. In the current Mensa election, there are some people who are incredibly honorable, some who are dedicated to their own ends, and others who are virtual unknowns. By the time the election comes around, for Mensa's sake I hope you will know which issues matter to you, how the candidates stand on them, and which candidates you feel you can trust to live up to their campaign promises. And then, make electing Mensa's leadership a personal choice: Remember to vote!
Jessica Weingarten is the editor of Delaware Valley Mensa's newsletter, Proteus, and she is working hard on the current American presidential election. After November, she will turn her attention to helping ensure that her Mensa readers have the information necessary to vote in an informed manner in the Mensa elections.