Career experience a plus for Mathis

It appears that a candidate for state Senate District 18 has chosen to run on an “anti-celebrity” ticket. She would have us believe that Liz Mathis was in some way diminished by her experience as a news broadcaster, that becoming better known that the average person is a debit, not a credit.

I think the opposite is true. Almost anyone who spends many years discovering facts and reporting on local and state politics is going to learn something about how the system works. Liz is running for the Legislature, not for a job as a small-business owner.

While our business-owner candidate may have written some payroll checks in the past, her check-writing skill would not do her or us much good in the Legislature.

However, what would serve us well would be someone who could hit the ground running in Des Moines, someone with more than a rookie's understanding of how to get things done in the political system. It's my guess that Liz has a bit more of this understanding than the other candidate.

Ron Sundermann

Cedar Rapids