David Nagel: Thoughtful, respectful discussion is his approach to legislative efforts

To The Daily Sun,

I am honored to represent Belknap County District 6 in the upcoming election for New Hampshire state representative. I would like to thank all those who voted for me and worked on my behalf in the primary to make this happen. We did this with a uniquely bipartisan effort, one I hope will serve as a model not only for elections, but also for legislative efforts.

For information about who I am and my priorities, please visit my website: drnagelfornh.com. Please feel free to contact me through that site.

Please consider the following. It has become cliché for candidates to promise that they will unite us. So, what does unification actually look like?

In framing the Constitution and, subsequently, the two-party system, James Madison wrote in The Federalist No. 51 that: “Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.” In this way, no faction could get so big or powerful as to overwhelm another.

This inherently creates a system that is slow and deliberative. In order to make meaningful change, then, thoughtful, respectful discussion and compromise is necessary. This does not mean that we all need to share the same ideas. Quite the contrary. But change can only happen when we respect each other’s ideas and find a way to work together, putting the needs of others at or above our own.

This is the way I have always approached everything I do. The bipartisan support I received did not arise because of shared ideas, but rather because of a willingness to acknowledge each other’s point of view and agree to work together to create policy, which I have been able to do. It also arose because of my firm conviction that we must give a voice to the voiceless.

Those are my priorities.

David Nagel

Gilmanton