Rep. Ed DeLaney: A sense of time and of proportion is sorely needed

Surely Republican officials and candidates know that, as long as they are on Earth, they will face challenges that can be addressed with time and effort. That understanding normally leads to a hunt for solutions. This moment seems to be different. Anger built on a false narrative has become the focus. Solutions to real problems are of little interest. As ousted Speaker Kevin McCarthy has noted, Republicans are preferring grievance to governance.

Anger has led to Republican confusion about the fundamental phenomenon known as “time.” Thus, the past with its imperfections is painted as glorious. Sorry, but the ’50s were a time when women were denied opportunities at work and in sport. The elderly had no health insurance. When Russia in its Soviet phase invaded Hungary, there was nothing we could do to help. We have since addressed these problems and have made some progress. Now one party is gripped by fear and anger, so there is little room for slow progress.

Like the past, the future is also troubling for some who would lead us from the right. Thus, Jim Banks wants to become our senator by preserving the internal combustion engine (and petroleum-based pollution). He is apparently incapable of envisioning a transition to electric vehicles that does not crush employment in the auto industry. His solution reminds me of the famous Luddites who destroyed machinery at the start of the Industrial Revolution.

Why not work to have better air and better cars? Why not provide assistance to those harmed by any transition? Is it because some Republican leaders have figured out how to benefit from anger in regions that have fallen behind? Trump has figured that out, after all. Banks is studying at the feet of the master. Destroy progress and thrive off the resultant chaos. Grievance, not governance.

Even that time known as “the present” is presenting a challenge for Republican candidates. We know that, in the aftermath of COVID, we have seen struggles with crime and office occupancy in central cities all over America. Should the responses be to overstate our crime levels and to ignore signs of progress? Does Jefferson Shreve really need to tarnish our city just to become its mayor? If he got the office, would he be using his campaign ads to attract new residents or growing businesses to our city?

I suggest that he look at the number of young people moving into downtown, or at the construction cranes seen in our city. Take a ride along our new bike paths. Look at parks that are full of young people that were empty just a few years ago. Why, one might even notice that Indianapolis has produced a bumper crop of millionaires who can finance their own quest for office. Just how bad is it here?

I am looking for an antidote to anger and exaggeration. How about a sense of proportion? Maybe that would help us restore our perspective and move away from fear and anger. A sense of proportion is built on reason and hope, not fear and anger. That sense is dead in the national Republican Party. Local Republicans are moving in the same direction.

Anger costs us now and in the future. It leads ever more moderate Republican officeholders to walk away from office early in their terms. It deters moderates from seeking office. It deters young people from becoming voters.•

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DeLaney, an Indianapolis attorney, is a Democrat representing the 86th District in the Indiana House of Representatives. Send comments to ibjedit@ibj.com.

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