Question Your Candidates

The next six months may be your best chance to get your future senator or representative to make a commitment to vote right.

It’s an election year. Aspiring elected official are never more responsive to constituents than in their first campaign. Their views are generally not yet hardened, and they are listening intently – looking for ways to demonstrate to voters that they will fight for people like them.

It works. The Center for Rural Affairs met with almost all the new candidates for the Nebraska Legislature two years ago when term limits forced out nearly half of Nebraska’s state senators. The relationships and commitments we formed then were essential in winning support for beginning farmer, rural community development, and small business development initiatives passed successfully in the following legislative session.

So watch your local newspaper and events calendars to find out when candidates are coming to your area. Make a point to attend, and be sure to ask the candidate where he or she stands on the issues most important to you. Afterward, introduce yourself and get his/her mailing address or email. Send a follow-up note to reinforce your point.

What should you ask? Here are some suggestions. If you prefer, develop your own questions.

• Do you support tightening the limits on subsidies for mega farms to drive smaller operations out of business by bidding land away from them?
• What’s a higher priority to you, tax breaks for big companies to expand or support for small business and microenterprise to revitalize rural America?
• Where do soil and water conservation rank on your list of priorities? Should a portion of federal support be based on how well a farmer manages natural resources – such as through the Conservation Security Program?
• Should some part of the money in every farm bill be invested in the future of rural America through beginning farmer, small business, and value added agriculture programs?
• Do you support taxing large estates of wealthy people to prevent excessive concentration of land and wealth and to slightly level the playing field in competition for land and markets between rich heirs and hard working ordinary people trying to get starting in farming or business?
• Should grants and tax credits for biofuel production favor locally-owned facilities? Should they be tied to standards for protection of land and water?

Good government requires effort by good citizens. It’s what makes democracy work. And there is no better way to make your efforts count than by helping to shape the views of a new candidate for office. It’s your best shot at making a difference.

Agree or disagree? Send your questions and comments to Chuck Hassebrook at 402.687.2103 x 1018 or chuckh@cfra.org.