Recently, I finished author Michael Tackett’s book The Price of Power: How Mitch McConnell Mastered the Senate, Changed America, and Lost His Party. A quote attributed to Paul Ryan, the former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, stopped me in my tracks for how he described Sen. McConnell.
“His best weapon, among all, is that he doesn’t care what people think about him.”
Growing up in rural south Mississippi, I frequently heard my mom, incensed at my stubbornness, say, “You need to care more” about chores, friends, church and such. I had a statement at the ready, even as a 12-year-old.
“There’s an inverse relationship between caring what people think of you and success,” I’d say, further angering my mom. “I do care — just not about what everyone else cares about.”
That recalcitrance wasn’t helpful in the Joe and Ruth Smith household, but it has served me well over the years, especially during my six years in politics. The best politicians listen to constituents’ needs, but aren’t slaves to constituents’ approval.
As my time in office draws to a close in early May, I’m turning my focus to what I call the five F’s: faith, family, finances, friends and fun. That means prioritizing my calling — helping others in business and in the community — while also making time for family, exploring new business ventures, spending more time with friends and enjoying the outdoors through fishing, hunting and golf.
It’s not that politics prevented me from these pursuits; it’s simply time to eliminate the “should bucket” — a term NYU professor and bestselling author Scott Galloway uses to describe activities that don’t align with your highest priorities.
“True focus and true luxury is eliminating the should bucket,” Galloway says. “You clear out all the shoulds and focus on ‘What do I need to do?’”
I started that process in 2023 when I realized that in exactly 1,045 days both of my daughters would go off to college. I began cutting unnecessary obligations to focus on what truly matters.
“You’ll run for higher office one day, won’t you?” is a question I’ve received more than two dozen times in the last 18 months. My answer? I won’t say never, but the probability is much closer to 0% than it is to 100%.
The truth is, politics today isn’t what I grew up admiring. Substantive debate and ideas have given way to tribalism, polarization and performative outrage on social media. As conservative writer Jonah Goldberg has observed, the modern political landscape isn’t about governing or problem-solving; it’s about defeating the other side in a zero-sum culture war.
That division isn’t just in Washington. It’s creeping into neighborhoods and communities across North Texas, where once-friendly neighbors now eye each other with suspicion over national issues that have little bearing on their daily lives.
That’s why I launched this column — to help reorient our focus on the people, places and issues that actually shape our communities: schools, real estate, technology, housing, business, local development and anything else that impacts the region.
The biggest lesson I learned as a local elected official is one that I repeat often: We agree a lot more than we disagree, but disagreement need not lead to fractured relationships or communities.
In fact, we should welcome disagreement, says conservative political analyst and scholar Yuval Levin. He asserts that we must find ways to act collectively despite our differences.
“The trouble is not that we have forgotten how to agree but that we have forgotten how to disagree,” he says.
Healthy disagreement isn’t a threat to democracy; it’s the foundation of it. I plan to constantly remind North Texas residents that, even when we disagree, we can continue building a community that future generations will marvel at. I don’t care much what people think of me, but I do care about North Texas.
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