I had lunch with Katie Witt today. She's a very brave woman, the first Republican who was willing to sit down with me. And except for the little detail of the [R] after her name, a terrific person.
The biggest impression I took away is she is fresh to what we need out of the legislature. Everyone else I've talked to to date has boatloads of experience. That means they know more on lots of issues, but it also tends to have people locked into the 2 or 3 alternatives that the conventional wisdom comes up with.
What I heard from Katie was a an open intelligent mind that talked through various issues and different possibilities to address them. So will she hit the ground with detailed proposals? No. But will she see that some solutions are inadequate and work to actually fix problems? Yes. So what you get with her is a fresh open set of eyes.
Education is her prime passion. She has 3 kids in public schools and so she sees the problems from the trenches. (I think the difference between those of us that have kids and those that don't is much bigger than that between Democrats and Republicans.) A lot of good observations on what needs improvement in the schools.
In addition to seeing the need for systemic improvement in the schools, she also sees the need to increase funding for the schools. Katie is a Republican who understands the traditional Republican value of investing in our future. It's rare nowadays and oh so nice to hear.
The other big topic she brought up was health-care. She sees that it is not working for way too many people, and that tying it to work ties employees to their jobs when they have health issues in the family. She also sees the proposed "fixes" for the state as a lot of money being spent to small effect (which I think is a very good point).
Again, she lives this issue and clearly stated that the free enterprise system by itself cannot provide the best solution. Again, it was refreshing to hear that all too rare nowadays Republican approach of having government get involved in the market where necessary.
That leads to the second big thing you get from Katie. She views government as a key part of society with very important roles to play. She questions where the money is going, is it being wisely spent, and how best to achieve goals. But in all of her conversation government is a part of this.
She is not the Doug Bruce revert to anarchy type. She is not the Bob Schaffer leave everything to the market type. Rather she wants to find the way to have the government most effectively and efficiently do it's part.
