As Americans head to the polls for the November 5th elections, they will be voting for the United States president, members of state legislatures, state judges, municipal officials, and local measures. One such official, Bennie G. Thompson, has represented Mississippi’s Second Congressional District in the United States Congress for the past 31 years. He seeks another term following this year’s election. This article will present his views on the upcoming elections, the state of American leadership in general, and his plan to help citizens get involved in the process.  – Debra Manning Burks

How do you compare the two presidential campaigns?

The challenge we have in this country with this upcoming election is quite simple. Do you want to go forward, or do you want to go backwards?

I see the Harris candidacy as one that’s talking about the future: what we have to do in terms of helping our constituents in this country. We have to make sure that we continue to support education, economic opportunity and basic issues around healthcare and housing. There is a role for government in each one of those areas.

When you look at the Trump campaign, he’s talking about gloom and doom and how things used to be. You know as a black American, I’m resistant to going back because I’m old enough to remember the old days.

(Thompson recounts memories of his time in school in his native Bolton where there was a school called the Bolton Colored School where he says resources, construction and everything was polar opposite to the school for white children).

Immigration

Trump is someone who talks about being afraid of immigrants. As you know, our country is made up of just about every nationality known to man because for so long, the only real people here were Native Americans.

And so for a long time, we became a welcoming country to people who were running away from oppression and seeking a new way of life…we just said if you can get to America, that’s all you need to do. The Statue of Liberty and other things were a welcoming sight for people from all over the world.

And so fast forward. People who are trying to run away from oppression seek a better life are being demonized by the Trump administration to the point that it’s racist.

(Thompson gives the example of Trump’s talk of dogs and cats being eaten by Haitians in Springfield, Ohio)

Trump never talks about the northern border or the maritime border. He doesn’t talk about those people who come by air. He only talks about the southern border, a dog whistle for the races in this country, because the majority of the people coming from the southern border are of a different color.

Government’s Role 

There is a place for government to make things better. Whether it’s  economics, education or healthcare to help its citizens.

That means if you are sick and can’t afford healthcare, the government has a role to get you the health care you need. If you are pursuing education and trying to better your lot in life, there’s a role for government in public education. If you want to go to a community college, if you want to go to a four-year college, then the government will make that opportunity available to you through grants and loans.

And part of what’s happening in the Biden administration is looking at the debt structure of student loans in this country. We say we have created this opportunity, but that opportunity shouldn’t be a burden on you for the next 20 or 30 years.

My office has worked with a lot of people who are carrying student loan debt. And to be honest with you, we’ve had people with $150,000.00 to $200,00.00 debt wiped off with the stroke of a pen. You move from struggling to being able to do it for yourself.

Tariffs and Taxes

The farmers by and large support Trump. He’s now talking about putting tariffs on equipment and items coming into this country. That means all of a sudden the products are going to cost more. A tariff is a tax, right? If you say you’re against raising taxes, but you support tariffs because Donald Trump says it, there’s something wrong with that… he’s selling sneakers, watches and bibles that are made in China and sold in America and wants us to believe that products made in China are bad…A lot of Trump’s supporters don’t want to hear the facts.

America’s Election Process

Now, we in America, for all intent and purposes, cast a secret ballot. That ballot, unless that individual voluntarily tells you who they voted for, is one of the rights we have. The majority of the ballots are counted by a machine. Now, Georgia, in its infinite wisdom, wants to count all the ballots by hand for the whole state of Georgia. Well, that means we’ll know pretty much before November 6th who’s won the election, other than the count in Georgia because they’ll probably count for weeks there.

*October 15th: A Georgia judge temporarily halted a new rule requiring poll workers to  hand count ballots in November’s U.S. elections.

The Electoral College

That’s the requirement right now. Even though we (Democrats) have won the popular vote in past elections, you’ve got to win the Electoral College. That’s a constant debate. The problem we have with that now is how do you get it into law? And with the filibuster rule in the senate, you have to have 60 votes if there’s opposition. And I just don’t see it being able to change right now. So, we’re kind of stuck with it.

That’s why this election November 5th comes down to six or seven states (Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nevada, Arizona and maybe New Mexico, Georgia, or maybe North Carolina.)

Everything else is either red or blue. And because of that, a lot of resources in both campaigns are being spent inn those states.

*Thompson’s career has focused on key issues like Homeland Security, where he is a ranking member of the Homeland Security Committee. Also, Veteran’s Affairs, the Mississippi Delta Development, Education, and FEMA reform. He has been the only Democrat in the Mississippi delegation since 2011.

Future Strong Leadership

Thompson gives this advice for building strong party leadership. 

You have to start at the bottom and work up. You know, you can’t build a house from the roof. You have to build it from the foundation. I’ll be honest. I think our foundation rests in municipal elections next May. That’s because if you go to every major city in this state, there’s a Democratic majority that lives within the city limit.

If you start the building blocks of electing Democratic mayors, city councils and make that part of the nucleus of party building, by the time we get to the statewide races, we’ll have foundational support to really run some effective campaigns. That’s because the cities are basically still where the populations are.

Marks of a Good Leader

First of all, you have to understand the job you’re running for. That means you need to know the legislative definition as to what a mayor’s job is, or what a city council person job is, or what a country supervisor’s job is (and state legislator or representative).

Then you need to know if you are managing day to day activity, what is your budget? What are policies and procedures that one should understand when you run for those offices?

My experience has been a majority of people who run can’t answer the hard questions about what’s the budget for the agency you’re running for? How many  employees do you have? What are the policies and procedures that govern the operation? And so we have people run, because they say they have been encouraged to run.

But what kind of preparation have they put in, in order to run?

Sure, anyone in American can run for public office if they’re 18 years of age and have not been disqualified from voting. I mean, that’s the only criteria. You don’t have to be the smartest.

Voter Responsibility

I think voters need to be informed on the candidates’ job they’re running for. Candidates must have a vision. Let the candidate’s say, “If I am elected, here’s what I want to do and here’s how I want to do it.”

I applaud groups like Working Together Jackson because we have blocks and blocks in our community where no one even lives anymore. And then we go to our city leaders and ask why haven’t we boarded up these house or why haven’t the owners been notified that their property is neglected. We find out we only have two or three code enforcers for the whole capital city.

 Well, there’s something wrong with that picture. If you want your community to be better, then your government has to run the city better. It has to function. And so anyone who offers themselves for public office has to talk about their vision if they get elected. They ought to be able to say what they expect to accomplish within four years.

The Book of Proverbs talks about ‘without vision, people perish.’

His Faith Foundation

I believe that for a majority of people running for office, you got to have a church home. You got to have faith in the people you’re asking to vote for, because faith also gives you a moral compass so that you know that there are just some things that we have to do.

For instance, I believe that communities ought to be safe. That means we ought to have good law enforcement. But that law enforcement doesn’t need to be oppressive. Enforcement doesn’t need to be abusive. Basically, when the police ride down a community patrolling it, our citizens shouldn’t fear the police.

They should see law enforcement as supportive of making a community better. Our judiciary shouldn’t just lock people up and throw away the key. You ought to be able to look at individuals and say, “Look, no one’s perfect.” 

I believe in second chances. I believe in third chances. That part of a moral compass you get from having some religious connotation growing up, you. And that’s not being soft on crime.

That means I have hired people who have records. I have written letters to get people out of jail. I have gotten people pardoned by the president.

Because it is the right thing to do.