We are now in the final 30 days of campaigning before the mid-term elections. This is the so-called "silly season." It is so-called by the pundits and professionals who actually earn their livings covering politics. It says something about a person that he or she spends most of his or her time on "silly" things. It also says something that the "professionals" covering our elections view them as silly.
Elections are not silly everywhere. Take Scotland, for example. There was 87% turn out for the Scottish independence vote. The Scots didn't declare war on Britain, and Britain did not try to occupy Scotland to prevent them from voting. No one sent their special forces to pro-British regions to stir up trouble and try to create a counter-separatist movement. Military checkpoints were not set up, artillery pieces were not deployed and passenger jets were not shot down. Scotland ultimately voted to remain a part of the U.K., but in the process they demonstrated to the world how democracy can resolve strong political, cultural, and sectarian disputes.
Our politics and politicians, of course, earn a failing grade on the use of democracy to resolve differences. In fact, as I've pointed out before, our politicians choose to use the democratic process to divide us as a nation. It is roundly accepted that they use "silly" tactics to accomplish this insidious goal, and at some point the reasonable electorate just checks out.
One of the reasons our democracy is facing so many domestic challenges is the incessant influence peddling that dominates the landscape. Leadership has become a product of "who you know" rather than "what you know." While some would argue that this has always been the case, when a premium is not placed on competence, you more often than not wind up with incompetence at the helm. Incompetence leads to poor decision making which leads to poor results. Poor results are suffered most by those with the least influence - wash, rinse, repeat.
Influence is primarily peddled using money. It is true that powerful people trade favors more often than money, but if anyone else wants in the game, they have to get out the checkbook. Consider this:
1. $37 million dollars has been spent in the Kentucky race for Senate against Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell.
2. $31 million dollars has been spent to unseat former comedian, yes comedian, Al Franken.
3. Even an open seat in the House of Representatives averages $7 million.
4. Many analysts believe that the next Presidential race will cost more than double the last one, which was approximately $2.6 billion dollars.
5. The numbers above do not include PAC spending...
Now, consider for a moment what all of this money is being spent on. In most races, somewhere between 60 and 85% is being spent on negative advertising. In other words, most of the money is being spent on attacking an opponent, not promoting one's own positive political agenda. Of course, part of the reason for this is that very few politicians actually have a positive political agenda. Most electoral politics have been reduced to "I'm not with that guy" in years the President is unpopular and "I'm just like that guy" when the President is doing well in the polls.
It is impossible to believe that once a politician gets into office that he or she will not be at least partially influenced by the very donors that put them there. And no one really believes that. Instead, we are resigned to just accepting that we will be ruled by the elite until something gives. Among the many problems with our acceptance of this is that we have real problems to solve that will require competent leadership. Our foreign policy, for example, is in shambles but it is not an easy fix. It will require competent people on both sides of the aisle, to the extent they are there, to exchange ideas, debate strategies and ultimately work together with the President to craft a reasonable and consistent set of policies. The same can be said for our national debt, our loss of manufacturing jobs, our anemic economy, and the vast majority of problems that face the ordinary American family.
This is not to say that all politicians are bad or incompetent. There are good people who do work to make a real difference, but they are few and far between. If they dominated the landscape, we would not be facing the challenges we face, or at least the situation would not be so dire. In our own lives, we all know those people at work who have gotten ahead by having friends and knowing people. It's an old story, but most of us also know that the organization will fail without competent people working behind the scenes, without recognition, to advance our common goals.
America is not too big to fail.
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