Paul Simon was no blow-dried made-for-TV politician, no consultant-driven candidate, no finger-in-the-wind public servant.
He was the real deal. Not because he stood for this or that issue in particular, but because, over a lifetime, he was willing to stand for something. And he was willing to stand alone.
Simon’s recent book, Our Culture of Pandering, arrived in the office a month or two ago. There seemed time enough, then, to reflect on its conclusions. We had the opening of another campaign season to cover, and the beginning of a new legislative session.
But Simon died unexpectedly as we were preparing to go to press with this issue. So there may be no better time to consider the twin angels of public service: courage and popularity.
Simon’s book is an analysis of what he called the “harsh reality” of our civic life: leaders who won’t lead. His death, our loss, brings this concern into sharper focus. We live in an era, he argued, when trivia trumps substance, when winning — whether it be votes, ratings, readers or profits — is deemed more important than the public interest.
That was by no means a new concern for Simon. We appreciate this here at Illinois Issues. Simon was one of the founders of this magazine and he served on our advisory board. We prepared the tributes you’ll read in these pages with a keen awareness that this entire issue, every issue of the magazine for nearly 30 years, constitutes a small part of his legacy.
Once a journalist himself, Simon believed Illinois would benefit from a nonpartisan, nonprofit news magazine that would offer in-depth reporting and scholarship on state policy issues.
His interest in the relationship between good journalism and good politics also motivated him to found a program on this campus to train government reporters. This legacy continues to grow. Many graduates of the Public Affairs Reporting program have gone on to journalism careers in this and other Statehouses, and in city council chambers across Illinois and throughout the nation.
Nevertheless, Simon worried in Pandering that political journalism is not as good as it was a couple of decades back. He attributed this, in part, to an increasing drive for profits by media owners. As a result, reporting staffs and “news holes” have been shrinking. Pressures for ratings and readers have been going up. And it has become easier for lazy editors and reporters to retail personality rather than assess policy.
“Almost every day for eleven weeks,” he wrote, “most newspapers and radio and television stations carried accounts of Congressman Gary Condit of California and an intern of his, Chandra Levy, who disappeared.”
Media decision-makers have decided scandal sells. What are they not covering as a result, he asks? Poverty is one issue. International affairs is another. This is, he concluded, “not good for the nation and not responsible journalism.”
Simon took issue with education and religious leaders, as well, for coddling instead of challenging the public. And his colleagues in the political arena came in for criticism in a chapter titled, “I Am Your Leader, I Am Following You.”
“Too often,” he wrote, “the winning candidates are those who pander to the polls and to the big campaign contributors.”
The promise to “get tough on crime” is, for instance, a sure crowd pleaser. But that stance glosses over complicated policy questions. “Few candidates suggest that, yes, we should be tough on crime, but we should also be smart on crime.” The simplistic position, Simon argued, means more prisons and less rehabilitation.
State-sanctioned gambling, too, is an example of a short-sighted policy fueled by a desire to win — and by an addiction to campaign cash. “Gambling survives and thrives,” he believed, “because of pandering to these big contributors by public officials.”
But for Simon the bottom line in these and other examples is an increasingly dangerous need to curry favor, to be popular, to win. That point is worth quoting in full.
“The desire to win has always been part of our political scene, but two things have turned a temptation for candidates into a threat to our free system: First, polls can tell us on a daily basis — hourly, if you want it — what people are thinking. In a zeal to win, political leaders too often use these polls to embrace the whims of public opinion rather than stand firmly for the public interest. Second, campaign contributions now play a huge role in who gets elected. In the process of securing that funding, candidates and, more seriously, officeholders find the time that they should devote to complex issues being devoured by begging for dollars.”
But the other angel of public service is courage.
Simon was willing to take many unpopular positions. Yet many of the things he fought for have come to pass. In the days before he died, Illinois approved some of the death penalty reforms recommended by a panel he co-chaired, as well as a package of ethics reforms few, if any, believed possible.
And this should be stressed: Simon was popular. Some 4,000 people braved bad weather to attend his funeral. That’s the thing about Illinoisans. Wherever they might stand on the issues, they know a real deal when they see one.
He was the real deal.
A Simon reader
Paul Simon was a disciplined and prolific writer. He wrote nearly two dozen books, four of them with co-authors. And he cranked them out on a manual typewriter, most during his busiest years as a public official. This sampler offers a mere taste of his eclectic interests.
Lovejoy: Martyr to Freedom, 1964, about abolitionist editor Elijah Lovejoy
LincolnØs Preparation for Greatness, 1965
You Want to Change the World? So Change It, 1971
The Once and Future Democrats, 1982
The Glass House, 1984, about politics and morality in the nationØs capital
Advice and Consent, 1992, about U.S. Supreme Court nominations
P.S. The Autobiography of Paul Simon, 1998
Healing America: Values and Vision for the 21st Century, 2003
Our Culture of Pandering, 2003
More about Paul Simon
About Paul Simon, the Public Policy Institute at SUIC
http://www.siu.edu/~ppi/
Accomplishments and Issues
- Campaign finance reform
- Civil liberties
- Curbing television violence
- Education, including reorganization the federal student loan system
- Establishment of National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
- Federal balanced budget amendment
- Open meetings
- Responding to a shrinking water supply
- World hunger
Words of Tribute
Judge Abner J. Mikva:
“You don’t think of someone who dies at 75 as premature, but in his case it was; he still had so much to do.’’
Former Simon press secretary and government reporter Gene Callahan:
Callahan dined with the late senator at Saputo’s restaurant in Springfield a few days before the heart surgery from which he did not cover. Simon, stuck out his hand for other diners, saying, ‘Hi, I’m Paul Simon’ even though he no longer had an office to seek. “He was just a friendly guy, and he also had a great sense of humor,’’ says Callahan. A Simon quip:“I have a face made for radio.”
Former Illinois comptroller Dawn Clark Netsch:
“He realized government had an immeasurable impact on setting the ground rules for peoples’ lives. That’s how he got started in public life. He knew that’s how he could make a difference in people’s lives and he wanted to make a difference.’’
Mike Lawrence, associate director of the Public Policy Institute, on behalf of the institute staff:
"All of us at the Institute were honored and privileged to work with this extraordinary human being and leader. We loved and respected him greatly and we will miss him very much. Without him the institute will never be the same, but will continue for decades and decades to come to pursue his unflagging commitment to a better world."
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan:
“Paul Simon always has been and always will be one of my political heroes.”
At Simon’s funeral service:
U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy:
"In another era, he would have been a founding father. He was that good. He'll never be forgotten. We'll miss you, Paul."
Simon’s son, Martin:
'He didn't teach me to be a good person, he showed me.''
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin:
"Today, Paul makes his final journey home to Little Egypt, the beauty of the hills in Shawnee National Forest to the small towns and warm neighbors who just called him Paul. So, Paul, here we are again as we've been so many times before, at a great Simon rally in southern Illinois. All your friends are here, and you know, Paul, the turnout is pretty good. But this time, Paul, we're not here to cheer you on and send you out to fight more battles. This time, you're sending us out, armed with the warm memories of your life to carry on your great work."
Illinois Issues, January 2004
Peggy Boyer Long can be reached at Peggyboy@aol.com.
Illinois Issues, January 2004
