Emphasizing the need for politicians to reconnect with the public, former Senator, Congressman, and Arkansas Governor David Pryor reflected on his career with students on Monday afternoon.
Pryor, currently Director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University, captivated the audience with anecdotes from his personal experiences and advice to students hoping to start public service careers. He began by telling stories about his personal journey from college to the Governor's mansion. Upon graduation from the University of Arkansas, Pryor said he found few opportunities to use his political science degree. Using inherited money, he set out on a different path and started his own newspaper.
His contact with the community and critical editorials laid the foundation for a lengthy political career including six years in the US House of Representatives, a term as the Governor of Arkansas, and 18 years in the US Senate.
Pryor emphasized the importance of increasing personal interaction between politicians and their constituents. "You can have all the money, swanky TV spots, and slick brochures you want, but the real difference is made by people enthusiastically supporting you and knocking on doors to convince others to do the same."
He told students his favorite political position was as county representative in the state legislature, where Pryor "knocked on every door in the county asking for votes and [he] felt like [he] was really doing something."
Even if it's just handing out bumper stickers for someone else's campaign, Pryor advised students to jump into the political field however they can. "You will gain experience and you will know when the right time is," he said. He went on to caution students, however, against blindly accepting proposed legislation from the current administration. "Bush is asking for a $48 billion increase in the defense budget... with $5 billion we can give a hot meal to every child in the world every day," Pryor explained. "These are things y'all are going to have to deal with."
With his son Mark in the race for an Arkansas Senate seat this November, Pryor was not short on commentary about Southern politics. Citing Al Gore's loss of every Southern state in the 2000 election, Pryor said that Democrats could not win the South without addressing the issues of abortion and guns.
While Pryor is optimistic for his son, he also indicated the importance of defeat to gain experience and humility. "People remember what kind of loser you are, and the heartbreaks along the way make it all worth it," he said.
Pryor admitted a few regrettable voting decisions he made during his career. If he could go back to his Senate career, he said he would have voted "No" to President Reagan's economic plan and "Yes" to the Civil Rights Housing Bill in 1968.
Audience questions focused the conversation on current events such as the war on terrorism and upcoming elections. "Most politicians underestimate the intelligence of the American voters," Pryor said.
He argued that the people are usually a few steps ahead of their representatives, as seen in the recent criticisms that the war on terrorism is overshadowing other important issues.
Pryor compared the US to a "cowboy that walks into a saloon with both guns blasting and shoots before asking questions." He admits that the US has a difficult path ahead of it and said the nation needs to find solutions to the rest of its problems - many of which have recently been neglected.
Harris Dainoff and Sarah Molenkamp, co-chairs of Pi Sigma Alpha, Tufts' political science honor society, were proud to bring someone so active in politics to campus. Senator Pryor "over-exceeded my expectations," Dainoff said. "He is one of the best speakers I've heard in my four years at Tufts."
Political science professor James Glaser was impressed with Pryor and his ability to "weave tales from his experience into an engaging lesson in political science. They always say if you want to learn about politics, go down South."
The event, sponsored by Pi Sigma Alpha, was part of the group's biannual "Conversations" series. The audience consisted largely of Pi Sigma Alpha members and President Emeritus DiBiaggio's Ex-college leadership class.
