Elections and Politics: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Lets start with the good. In the game of politics, the dental profession has performed more than admirably. CalDPAC is now the third-largest political action committee in California, thanks to the CDA members who have contributed and the volunteer leaders who made it happen. Elected officials in Sacramento, from the Legislature to the governor’s office, are listening to the voice of dentistry. The day-to-day work of keeping abreast of and acting on the myriad legislative and regulatory issues affecting dentistry is handled by the expert staff of CDA’s Public Policy Division. Every practicing dentist in California should know that when there is legislation on the table with the potential to affect either the health care or business side of dentistry, there is a team representing them and looking out for their best interests. The effectiveness of this team can be seen in the numerous favorable outcomes of recent legislative activities that affect the profession of dentistry.

Now let’s look at the bad. To become a respected voice in Sacramento, it is necessary to forge relationships with the legislators who will ultimately be making those decisions that affect the profession. These relationships often begin during their campaigns for office. According to the rules of the game, building relationships is accomplished by giving money to the candidate to help them get elected. One might suspect that this system opens the possibility of various forms of abuse.

We can also imagine scenarios where there may be negative repercussions of the dental profession supporting candidates running for office. Opponents of these candidates, in the heat of a campaign, may seek to publicly slander or otherwise attack us, fairly or unfairly. We may find candidates who did not receive our support during an election use their position in other public offices to carry a cause that may be hurtful to dentistry. It is also conceivable that, within our profession, there may be individual members who do not support the candidates that the profession as a whole supports. This may lead to feelings of resentment and division within our ranks and detract our focus from the broader goal of professional legislative advocacy.

Yes, politics and elections are a game; and the dental profession continues to play the game well. At the same time, we are learning the consequences, both good and bad, of playing the game. Yet, as I listen to fellow voters from all walks of life, it is clear that the nature of this game is what so many of us find objectionable. It is the reason many of us are less than enamored of the political process. This is, indeed, the ugly side of politics. We find the role that money plays in the election process disturbing. We hear our individual voices in the election process drowned out by the collective thunder of soft-money donations from the financially powerful. We see that money buys individuals and organizations access to our elected officials all the way from our city halls to the White House and are regretful that all citizens do not receive equal access. We feel insulted when the nameless entities behind election campaigns bombard us with wave after wave of political advertisements many aiming to destroy their opponent’s credibility and character, legitimately or otherwise. Some of us imagine the positive impact if the millions of dollars spent on negative campaign advertising instead went toward feeding needy people, enhancing our educational system, or cleaning up and preserving our environment.

The dental profession alone will not resolve such issues. It will be up to all citizens and, ironically, to our elected officials to enact meaningful campaign finance reform measures. It will be up to individual voters to realize that in a democracy, power does ultimately lie with the individual, and that we collectively have the power to change the process and vote those out of office who violate our standards of ethical political conduct. It will be up to those who chose not to vote to realize they are shirking their responsibilities as citizens and are as much to blame for the distasteful state of the political game as the politicians themselves. As dentists, though, we can continue to participate in the political process and be proud of how our profession does so. CalDPAC has developed strict guidelines that state that any campaign ads we sponsor are to contain facts and not personal attacks. Furthermore, ads will always be intended to inform, not mislead, the public. We are fortunate to have a group of hard-working and highly knowledgeable individuals on our CalDPAC board and Public Policy staff who tirelessly interview candidates and carefully review all relevant information before deciding which candidates to support. While from time to time the candidates that CDA supports may be opponents of those we personally support, it is imperative that at the end of the day we lay aside our differences of opinion and come together as a strong and unified voice. Finally, we in the dental profession should feel a sense of satisfaction that ours is a noble cause, and that our involvement in the political process is always on behalf of the public we humbly serve.