Candidate calls for end to partisan strife
Hayden Shamel wants to broker a pause in the cultural and partisan strife polarizing the country.
The Democratic candidate for the state’s 4th Congressional District said the shrillness is drowning out concerns common to a broad section of the ideological spectrum.
“All of us are getting distracted with all these cultural issues,” Shamel, a Spanish and English teacher at Lakeside High School and chairwoman of the Garland County Democratic Party Committee, said. “I feel like Washington is doing that on purpose, trying to keep us distracted with all these cultural issues.
“We’re quarreling back and forth when all that really matters at the end of the day is taking care of our families, making certain that our kids have a better future than we did when we were growing up.”
Shamel said the grinding partisanship dividing the political spectrum is insinuating itself between friends and families, coarsening interpersonal relations and elevating trivialities over fundamentals.
“The last two years have been awful,” she said. “I’ve never seen it this bad in my life. It’s so ugly. Friends are turning against friends, neighbors against neighbors. Even within families, people block each other from Facebook.
“I feel like it’s part of this design. They like to see us angry at one another, because it keeps our focus off the issues that matter.”
Shamel said the need for politics to address practical concerns instead of amplifying divisions is one of the forces animating the record number of people filing for public office. Health care, education and poverty should transcend partisanship, she said, but instead are used to play to the narcissism of minor differences that fracture an electorate sharing many of the same anxieties, challenges and insecurities.
“I think the majority of the American public is right here,” she said, referring to the center of the political spectrum. “I think people are sick of what we’ve seen over the last couple of years, and I think we have to return to decency.
“I think that’s the reason people are running for office, because we believe we can be better than this. There’s so much more that brings us together than this pettiness.”
The deficit of decency and compassion that has sharpened political discourse can be remedied by more women joining the conversation, Shamel said. She is among the record number who have entered the political fray this election cycle, bringing with them a sensitivity to issues Shamel said are central to families and an innate facility for consensus building.
“In terms of elected representatives, we need people who are going to work to bring people together, to unify,” she said. “That’s how we make progress. That’s what makes me encouraged about the number of women who are running for office because I think they are uniquely suited to be able
to sit down and compromise and make significant progress people can feel.”
Shamel said she is alarmed by prescription drug prices, a cost she said is even more onerous for families without the insurance she and her husband have as educators working for the state. She said Congress has been derelict in addressing the issue, refusing to take up legislation that would use the Medicare Part D program’s buying power to negotiate directly with drug companies and letting anti-competitive practices such as reverse payment patent settlements go unchecked.
Drug manufacturers use the latter to protect their market share, paying generic rivals to keep lower-cost alternatives off the market.
“Big pharma is reaping huge profits, and Congress is not taking steps to address those issues,” Shamel said. “That’s not a partisan issue. It’s a people issue. I truly believe until we start electing everyday people who get up every day and go to work at
7 a.m. and who are there late every night, we are not going to see the change we need.”
Shamel acknowledges the challenges her campaign faces. Republican incumbent Bruce Westerman’s resources dwarf hers, as evidenced by first quarter Federal Election Commission filings showing
$936,843 of campaign funds at his disposal as of the end of March. He raised $329,874 during the first quarter and more than $1 million since the election cycle began.
Shamel reported cash on hand of $21,257 at the end of March and $57,979 in contributions since August, including $4,650 in political action committee contributions compared to almost $500,000 for Westerman. She’s resigned to waging the campaign without support from the Democratic National Committee.
“I’m not expecting DNC support,” she said. “We’ve designed this campaign to run on its own. If they want to help, that would be great, but I’m not running like I expect them to help.”
Shamel said her campaign’s wealth of human capital makes up for its lack of financial resources. It’s powered by enthusiasm, both from the candidate and a large volunteer staff committed to her cause. She teaches full-time during the day and campaigns in the afternoons, evenings and weekends. She plans to visit all 33 counties in the district before election day.
“People are ready for a change,” she said. “I think we’re being underestimated in the 4th District. Every day that passes we get more and more excited, as more and more people are joining in. Regardless of the outcome, I’m glad to be involved, and everyone I’m meeting is glad to be part of the process too.” Early voting for the May 22 preferential primaries and nonpartisan general election begins Monday.