Competence Matters: Fix Problems, Get Stuff Done
Democrats want to fix stuff. Climate change. Health care. Our lopsided economy. Criminal justice. Prejudice. Violence. Immigration. Poverty. Housing. There is a long list. At times it seems there is no problem that some Democrat doesn’t have a plan for fixing.
In contrast, Republicans at both the state and national levels have made no serious proposals in recent years to fix anything significant. Climate change is a hoax. Covid-19 will disappear. Despite repeated declarations during the Trump presidency that a much better health system would be unveiled “soon”, and an infrastructure plan would be unveiled “next week”, no plan ever surfaced. The practice of having a Party platform was abandoned.
In Wisconsin, Republican legislative leaders think that raising the minimum wage from $7.25 will “hurt” those at the lowest end of the economic spectrum, and expanding health care for the poor will be “trapping people in the life of poverty.” In Texas, the mayor of Colorado City told his constituents who were without power, water or heat for days after the worst winter storm in decades, “I’m sick and tired of people looking for a damn handout! … Folks God has given us the tools to support ourselves in times like this … The City and County, along with power providers or any other service owes you nothing!”
For Democrats, on the other hand, government is an essential participant in fixing community problems. The stuff Democrats want to do is mostly stuff that can be done only by engaging the community and using the tools of government with political skill. Success depends on the existence of public trust in public institutions and the people who run them. For Democrats who want to get stuff done, nurturing that trust must be a top priority. More of a priority than any program change because support for change comes from trust.
What creates trust? Competence creates trust. Competence, not just in passing a law or creating a program, but more importantly delivering on the ground. Bringing results to the people for whom the program is intended. For the tenant of public housing, not the developer. Placing priority on making it easy for people to access services over making it easy for administrators to run programs.
Competence and trust are reciprocal. Competence leads to trust. Where there is trust, there is a willingness to give more responsibility to get more stuff done.
People approve when stuff gets done. Last month approval of Congress reached its highest level in the Gallup poll in more than a decade, slightly higher than the short-lived approval last spring following the initial bipartisan response to the pandemic.
Pundits wonder whether the Democrats in Congress can keep up their success as the problems that need to be addressed become more complicated and reaching agreement on solutions more difficult. With few votes to spare every Democrat has to be on board for anything to be accomplished.
That will take effort. Some Democrats want more. Some want less. Some see a short window of opportunity and want to accomplish everything now. Some see a fragile majority and the necessity to concentrate first on building a more durable coalition capable of governing over a longer period of time.
We must not keep ourselves from succeeding. If nothing gets done, we will have demonstrated we are incapable of governing. Politics is tough and demanding. It is the art of getting the possible done.
As Sen. Bernie Sanders commented, “That is not easy stuff. People have different perspectives, people come from very different types of states, different politics, and that’s going to be a very difficult job for both the House and the Senate.”
The variety of Democrats creates the difficulty. That variety also created the majority and with that majority the opportunity to get stuff done. An opportunity that must not be wasted. An opportunity that will be realized only when differences are accommodated and all Democrats vote together.
On the international level, President Biden described the challenge America faces with China and other autocratic governments around the world as one of “proving democracy works”.
That is also the challenge for the Democratic Party in this country. To demonstrate that government of the people, by the people, and for the people can actually work. Fixing problems. Getting stuff done. Building community. Helping people thrive. Can we do it?
Douglas Kane is the author of "Our Politics: Reflections on Political Life" published in 2019 by Southern Illinois University Press
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