J.C. WATTS Advertisement

The lead paragraphs in the Associated Press story out of Dallas were simple enough:

7-Eleven dropped Venezuela-owned Citgo as its gasoline supplier after more than 20 years as part of a previously announced plan by the convenience store operator to launch its own brand of fuel.

7-Eleven officials said that the decision was partly motivated by politics.

If I were in 7-Eleven's public relations department, I think I'd couch it a little more directly. I would hope that 7-Eleven's decision was motivated by patriotism.

Too bad for Citgo's Houston-based employees, but if I work for Citgo, and the leader of my company -- in this case the leader of the government that owns my company -- refers to my president as "the Devil," suddenly I'm a little concerned about the viability of my product within the borders of my homeland.

I can't begin to quantify the number of times I've filled up my tank -- the tanks in my car and in my body -- at 7-Eleven stores over the years. While my car gulped gallons of gasoline, I stepped inside for a Big Gulp and a package of Twinkies, the breakfast of champions.

Why was I such a faithful 7-Eleven customer? Easy. I'm cheap. And so is their gas. I'll drive an extra mile to save a couple of pennies a gallon. Inside their doors, you're paying for convenience. But at the pump, 7-Eleven's prices are as good as they get.

Now, the largest convenience retailer has dropped Citgo as its supplier, and they find themselves toeing a tightrope of political correctness on the issue. A 7-Eleven spokeswoman indicates the company sympathizes with the concerns of many Americans about the over-the-top comments made by Chavez at the United Nations a couple of weeks ago, "regardless of politics." Too bad she felt compelled to add that caveat. I would think the outrage over the epithets could be non-partisan.

"Certainly, Chavez' position and statements over the last year or so didn't tempt us to stay with Citgo," she said. Ya think?

Regardless of the PC stance they feel compelled to stake out, 7-Eleven's stock rose in my eyes, if not on Wall Street. Putting country before profits is the bold and honorable position.

In a day when profits seem to be the driving force trumping everything else, here's a major company saying that Chavez is such a destabilizing force that it can look elsewhere for a fuel supplier. I'm confident there will be no shortage of marketers willing to line their tankers up to the 2,100 stores which sell gasoline across the country.

I don't know if the American people fully appreciate the significance of this move. 7-Eleven has had a very profitable relationship with Citgo for over twenty years. This is like a Republican turning down a contribution from the Chamber of Commerce or a Democrat turning back support from the AFL-CIO.

Give 7-Eleven credit for doing something that is not all about them. If it were, the Citgo signs would shine in front of the stores in perpetuity.

If only some of our leaders in Washington could strike such a selfless pose. But in our nation's capital, it's "all about me" all the time - political rhetoric notwithstanding.

How else do you explain a disgraced lobbyist padding his record to inflate his value or appearance of influence on elected officials?

Or see elected officials taking bribes from defense contractors?

Or a member of Congress who sits on the Ethics Committee while channeling money to deals that he's directly involved in?

Or, sadly, a 52-year old single member of Congress instant messaging a 16-year old kid with pornographic propositions.

It's "all about me." Don't let them tell you otherwise.

No campaign should be about the candidate. It should be about the people. What is the campaign doing to advance freedom, the economy, education, etc.? As long as the campaign is about "me" rather than "us," we'll see red states get redder and blue states get bluer.

Looking ahead to 2008, we need to give some serious thought to presidential candidates who will not encourage blue states to become bluer and red states to become redder.

We need leaders in this country who can reach out and attract support beyond the "me" and unite the "we."

7-Eleven looked beyond the profits of the corporate "me," and did the right thing for the "we." Now, go enjoy an Icee with your next fill-up.

J.C. Watts writes twice monthly for the Pahrump Valley Times. Watts is chairman of J.C. Watts Companies, a business consulting group. He is former chairman of the Republican Conference of the U.S. House, where he served as an Oklahoma representative from 1995 to 2002. His e-mail address is JCWatts01@jcwatts.com