I had to laugh yesterday when I saw the announcement that perennial Democratic candidate Martha Good has now announced her candidacy for Cincinnati City Council. It seems her name pops up on the ballot for some government position every single year. Is this former professor that desperate to get a government paycheck?The Cincinnati Enquirer blog rightly highlights her many and differing career aspirations. Read that by clicking here.
Here is a list of the various job she has pursued in the last 5 years:
2009: Announces run for Cincinnati City Council.
2008: Lost election to Republican Patricia Clancy in the clerk of courts race.
2007: Got the endorsement of the Democratic party to run for school board, but didn't make the November ballot because she didn't have the required 200 signatures on her petitions.
2006: Didn't run herself, but managed the losing campaign of her friend Eve Bolton, who challenged Dale Mallory in the Democratic primary in the 32nd Ohio House District.
2005: Ran for Hamilton County Municipal Court judge and lost to Republican Russell Mock.
2004: Ran for Hamilton County clerk of courts and lost to Republican Greg Hartmann.
So, in this time span, the professor has wanted to be Clerk of Courts, Judge, a school board member, Clerk of Courts (again), and now on the Cincinnati City Council.
It certainly is not unusual in politics to see people in public service seek different positions. But, there is typically some sense to that track and I would like to believe that there are some people who pursue political office because of a calling to serve the public trust--not just to collect a government paycheck.
With Ms. Good, it is hard to understand her motivation beyond her desire to simply be in a political office of some kind. Does she want to be a Judge? Or, does she care about childhood education? Does she want to administer the clerk's office? Or, now, does she want to serve on the Cincinnati City Council?
In fairness, I've met Ms. Good and she seems cordial and professional. But, I also believe that her motivation is to bring her strongly held liberal Democratic ideology to some government position, somewhere, regardless of her experience or preparedness to do the job. That is not in the public's interest.
