One aspect of the events in Tucson on Saturday is the discussion of how much interaction should there be between elected officials and the people who elected them. There are a certain number of troubled people out there, and any public figure takes something of a risk when he goes out in public. How do you balance this with being available to the people who elected you?
One way to communicate is through the media. In Rhode Island, former Governor Carcieri was a regular on Helen Glover's (local talk show) morning talk show during his years as governor, coming in "at least once a month." Newly elected Governor Chafee has stated that not only does he not want to appear on talk radio, he does not want state employees to do so during state work time. Obviously, making that rule is his privilege as governor, but I wonder if he has thought it through. Governor Carcieri used talk radio to directly communicate with the voters of Rhode Island. When the Governor did something that might be controversial, talk radio gave him a chance to explain it to the voters. Talk radio also allowed voters to ask questions and make suggestions. It worked very well as an unfiltered communications device. As far as state workers on talk radio, how useful could that be in the case of a snow emergency or hurricane? Talk radio is one way people communicate in today's world. I would suggest to Governor Chafee that he consider how talk radio might be an asset to him rather than dismissing it for himself and banning it for others.
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