The presidential race. Are you tired of it yet? I have pretty much hit my limit. How about you?
And do you, like me, feel left out of the discussion? Not hearing much about agriculture and rural America from either side of the podium.
Too bad it's not all just one big tractor pull. Now that's something rural America can relate to. We'd be sure to hear a lot more talk of farm policy and rural community issues. It would be the urban folks looking in from the outside and scratching their heads.
There could be tractor pull rallies, kind of a warmup to the final pulloff. I bet there wouldn't be busloads of protestors showing up either. First, GPS can get a little quirky on the back roads. The protestors would never find us. And even if they wanted to, they have been led to believe that we, in rural America, are all armed with assault rifles. At least that thought might keep them from coming in and ruining our party.
If the presidential race were a tractor pull, we could easily see who the sponsors are. The more the sponsor pays, the bigger the space for their logo on the tractor. There's now no question about who has the most skin in the game. Wouldn't it be great if politicians, especially the candidates for president, had to wear their sponsors' logos on their jackets and put them on their campaign vehicles? No more searching for obscure websites and sifting through the junk to find who is contributing and how much. No more trying to figure out if the name behind the donation is who they say they are. (Remember that little vote about banning Michigan's wolf hunt a couple years ago? Yeah, not an initiative from within Michigan or even those most affected by the wild canine. Nope. It was all HSUS funded and initiated, but you wouldn't know that by the names of organizations behind the donations. You had to dig back a lot further than that to find the truth.)
Knowing the sponsors makes the decision more than just about choosing your favorite model. Now you know what went into building the frame. It's no longer just a Deere or Ford. It's a Deere or Ford built in America or built somewhere in the Middle East.
When you think about it, the election and a tractor pull aren't all that different. There's a lot of smoke and sometimes a fire.
It would be interesting to see who can get the most out of a tractor. Obviously, it would be the one with the best mechanic; the one who can make all the systems work together to coax the most horsepower out of the machine; the one who can channel the horsepower onto the right spot on the track at the right time, and bring the sled to a full pull.
There's no way to cheat the distance registered on the sled. You get what you get in one try. There is no way to cheat your way to a championship, then hang on to the title for four years. That would be fraud. Besides, there are rules against such behavior, aren't there?
I'd like to see the presidential race be a tractor pull. We would all be able to see how the candidate would react when their machine hits a long bumpy patch and gets off course before we make a choice that will last four years or more. We could see who's got the guts, the nerve, the savvy and the horse power to turn a bad run into a full pull. We could see who wouldn't turn chicken when the engine blows and fire is pouring out the stack, the block and sides. The process would take less time, cost less and all the name calling and accusations could be drowned out by screaming tractor engines.
Where do I get my tickets?
Bev Berens is a mom to 4-H and FFA members in Michigan. Do you have a story to share? Email her at uphillfarm494@yahoo.com.