JEFFERSON CITY — Sen. Mike Parson, R-Bolivar, releases the following statement regarding the passing of Missouri State Auditor Tom Schweich on February, 26, 2015:
“As we left the capitol last week, it was with heavy hearts and many unanswered questions. As I drove home, I remember the call I received from Tom Schweich a few months ago asking if I would endorse him in his upcoming campaign for Governor. Because I believe Tom had served his country and our state well in his public life, I agreed to endorse his campaign. Since that time, there have been other phone calls and meetings talking about his campaign, his financial goals, and his work ethic and why he felt that he was the best candidate for Missouri Governor.
One of the calls that stand out the most was the call I received just before the holidays to say he appreciated our friendship and to wish myself and my family a very Merry Christmas. My wife had the opportunity to meet Kathy Schweich at several events we attended and always spoke highly of her. Our hearts and prayers go out to Kathy and the children during this difficult time. One of the things that my wife and I often talked about was how intelligent Tom was and how dedicated he was to his job.
Tom’s tireless dedication and service to our country and our state is the memory I will hold onto. In my past occupation and my personal life, I have had the unpleasant experience of dealing with suicides and the effects it has on the family members. There are always many unsolved and unanswered questions with any apparent suicide – this one will be NO exception. There will be many questions asked of the family members. They will lose their privacy to grieve because of the necessity for law enforcement to work the crime scene and to gather facts. Also, the family will have to endure all the untrue remarks and statements that seem to develop during these situations.
I am well aware that Tom ended his political career on Thursday but unfortunately for his wife and children his career will never come to an end for them. Our thoughts and prayers should be with them in the days to come. Tom made the decision to take his own life and there is no way to justify what he did because at that point he truly acted alone and in my opinion made a poor choice.
However, if that choice was brought on in any way by the negative side of politics and the people that work under fictitious committee names and fictitious Post Offices Boxes, all the while making thousands of dollars doing it – then shame on them.
Hopefully, there will be further investigation into the whole situation and if there are those who bear some responsibility, they should be held accountable.
This is the part that we politicians do not go on the stump and talk about. But, I’m going to talk about it today. Most of us understand how this all began – such as hiring consultants to manage campaigns and to gather information on your opposing candidate to use against them. In the beginning, I truly believe that these types of inquiries were used to obtain factual information. It has changed so much over the years that this has now become a way to promote false information about your opponent. It has turned into totally misleading statements, outright lies and propaganda about a person. It has become a way of destroying ones character, their integrity and their honor not to mention destroying their families that they have worked a lifetime to achieve. Today everything is done to win an election by any means -- at any cost.
For example, the Barney Fife commercial that recently ran against Tom. This commercial had no factual basis whatsoever and had nothing to do with the duties or job performance of being an elected official. And the fact that the commercial was aired almost two years before a state-wide election speaks volumes to how far out of hand this has become. To base things totally on one’s appearance and to make reference to one being small and being able to be “squashed like a bug” should be unacceptable to us all. One has to wonder how his wife and children felt about such a commercial that was based on the appearance of their loved one in such a negative way.
Over the weekend, I read many articles and quotes that were made by individuals referring to Tom’s religious background. I only ask this, because I did not hear any of this first hand. But, one has to ask…….Why was religion discussed at all?
I can’t help but wonder if the people involved with this campaign strategy ever thought that they were pushing this too far. I want to believe someone did. I would also hope that the people involved at some point would admit to making a poor judgment call and would have the decency to apologize to Tom’s family for being a part of such an irresponsible act.
For most of us in the room, we know how to connect the dots in such an ugly political arena.
The question becomes “What are we as politicians going to do about it”? So, what are we going to do now……….Do we continue to be driven by money and to win elections at any cost? I ask that question to you Lt Governor, President Pro Tem, Majority and Minority Floor Leaders, Candidates for Attorney General, Secretary of State, Treasurer and my fellow colleagues along with myself --- I ask this question because of your leadership positions and our ambitions to seek a public office.
What are we going to do?
During our upcoming campaigns or duties of your leadership positions ----- We will be asking people to trust and believe in us.
How do we gain the trust of Missourians and their belief in all of us? We could start today by making a commitment to the people of this state and ourselves that we are not going to use propaganda. We are not going to destroy people’s lives at all cost just to win elections. Instead, we can start talking about who we are and articulating the differences between ourselves and our opponents by being honest with the facts.
I will personally commit that I will no longer stand by and let people destroy other people’s lives using false actuations and demeaning statements in the name of money and winning elections. Nor will I support candidates that use such tactics.
Obviously, the family is the one who will continue to pay the greatest price and bear the most grief. I would hope this will not die on the vine with the passing of the initial shock but will be the beginning of much needed overhaul of a system which has gone completely awry.”
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