Weekly Opinion Editorial
A TRIBUTE TO MIKE MCCARVILLE!
by
Steve Fair
Last week Mike
McCarville died. Mike was a long time Oklahoma journalist who
maintained The McCarville Report blog.
He had been involved in Republican politics for decades. He worked for President Reagan, U.S. Senator
Dewey Bartlett and others. Mike was a
long time radio broadcaster, hosting Open Mike Live on KTOK for years. He used to say he had a face made for radio
and that he never had a bad day. I met
Mike many years ago for lunch at 50
Penn Place.
At that time, I was co-hosting a weekly radio talk show with former
State Representative Dennis Johnson. The
two hour show was broadcast on Saturday mornings on two stations in southwest Oklahoma. Mike had heard about it and wanted to meet me
and offer a little advice. He gave me
some sage advice that day over lunch- ‘have fun on air while educating the
public.’ The “Darrell & Leonard’
show heeded that advice- we took the cause seriously, but not ourselves. Mike graciously agreed to call the show periodically
and offer his take on what was happening in the world of politics- always with
a pinch of humor and always with common sense insight. He continued calling in even after Dennis
left the airwaves and Georgia Williams replaced him and the show rebranded as
‘The Grapevine.’
After five years, I
left the airwaves and started a blog.
Mike was already online with the McCarville Report. One day, he contacted me and asked me if he
could put a link to my blog on his site.
I was honored. The McCarville
Report was and is widely seen as the source for insider political news in Oklahoma. I put a link to his site on my blog as
well. Periodically he would post a link
to an op/ed I wrote on his site,
Mike and I were
causal friends, not close friends, but we had a kindred spirit because we both
believed that being engaged in the political process doesn’t mean you have to
walk around with a sour expression on your face. You don’t need to look like you were weaned
on a dill pickle and have the seed hung in your teeth. Mike had fun.
I have always maintained that if you take the fun out of politics, you
lose people who are the most needed in politics- people who are well rounded
and understand they aren’t going to get out of life alive. Two important principles we could all learn
from Mike’s life:
First, he believed in
civil discourse. Mike wasn’t afraid to tee it up with you on a controversial
subject. In fact, he loved to debate,
but he was always civil, respectful of another’s opinion, and fair. Far too many journalists, activists, and
political leaders believe it is us vs. them.
Debating to them is not quietly listening to another person’s
perspective and then presenting your viewpoint, but rather interrupting,
yelling and belittling the other person’s view instead of presenting the merits
of your own argument. I was taught when
selling my product to sell the features, advantages and benefits of the
product, not run down the competition. Comparison
selling was considered a breach of civility.
Civility in our society is being lost because winning has become more
important than principle. Winning is
important, but how you win is important.
Mike was unwilling to lie, cheat and steal to win. He had to win on principle.
Second, he believed
in having fun. When he was on the radio,
he coined clever nicknames for his news anchor, his traffic reporter and
producer. He was jovial, enthusiastic
and engaging on air. McCarville drew
people to him because they knew he was having fun. In our current political environment, people
aren’t having fun. You ask the average citizen about the
political climate and ‘fun’ will be the last adjective they will use to
describe it. Some mistakenly think
people like McCarville can’t be taking the cause seriously if they are laughing
and joking, but nothing was further from the truth. McCarville’s decades long commitment to
conservative causes in Oklahoma
is undeniable and while he labored for the cause he was having fun.
Few too many of our
elected officials and Party leaders fail to understand the simple principle
that you can take the cause seriously and still have fun. You can still present your side of the story
and be respectful of others who disagree.
Mike McCarville mastered that balance. Please pray for Mike’s wife, Ann,
and the rest of the family during their time of loss.
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