Why Congress Needs More Scientists

How did you pull it off?
When I ran my campaign, no one thought I would win. I was totally unknown. One of my opponents was a multimillionaire, self-funded. Another opponent was the son of a multimillionaire. Another was a city commissioner. But I knew how to campaign, and I was running on an environmental platform. So I immediately landed the support of the environmental groups.

If you go door to door and hand out a brochure to someone, the brochure lasts from the door to the wastebasket. So I wrote out a list of 10 things I had to do to win, one of which was, "When going door to door, give something of value that they will keep." I came up with the idea, since I was running on an environmental platform, to give them a little spruce seedling. I put it in a Styrofoam cup, and on the label I wrote, "Keep Kent County green, plant this tree, and vote for Vern."

Then I had planting instructions, which were to put it in your kitchen windowsill, water when needed, and keep it there until mid-November, when you would plant it in the ground. Which happens to be the time you're supposed to plant spruce seedlings, since you want them to go dormant immediately. The county commissioners were impressed that this egghead had enough political moxie to do it.

But doesn't the scientist in you get frustrated with the legislative process?
I really hit my stride on environmental work. In Michigan, I got the most comprehensive environmental code passed by any state in the union. So I've never had any problem because I just concentrate on the legislative stuff, not the games. I got here [to Washington], and it's a totally different ballgame. Trying to get legislation passed is just really a lot of work. You have to convince so many different people, and there are so many interest groups. Environmental work particularly. It's just very hard to get agreement. One major success I had on that was the Legacy Act for the Great Lakes, which I managed to do the way I always did it in Michigan, which was to get all the sides together.

It just doesn't work here. I think both sides enjoy not resolving the problem. The business sector wants things to stay the way they are, the environmental sector raises huge amounts of money to fight their battles here, and what you have to do is overcome those interests and say, "We're going to get some legislation passed."