“The Only Thing That Can Pass is a Package That Has the Votes”
There are times when the essential simplicity of politics is put out there in easy-to-understand words. The obvious catches us by surprise. The mind resets to the basics.
It happened recently with Sen Edward Markey, D-Massachusetts, “The only thing that can pass is a package that has the votes.”
We know that’s true. We keep acting as though it is not. Like our own mortality, we don’t want to acknowledge the inevitable. Without the votes, we can’t have what we want.
In the end it always comes down to votes. Are they there; or are they not? It is the harsh reality that brings us up short; makes us realize what is essential.
Democrats are a party that wants to fix stuff, get stuff done. At times we get carried away, want to fix everything. There is a solution for every problem; sometimes solutions for what are not problems.
We gather in our various interest groups, put together our separate wish lists, write legislation, announce our plans at a press conference on the Capitol steps, excite our supporters, then start looking for the votes to pass what we want. We lobby, we pressure, we demand, we sign petitions, we fund advertising campaigns
When we don’t get what we want, have to settle for less, or nothing, it looks like, feels like, and is reported as failure. Even though some progress might have been made.
There is political wisdom in starting where eventually we always end up. What we have the votes for. What we can get done.
This means reaching out beyond our own narrow interest groups before we begin putting together a program – so that what is eventually proposed already has broad support. The political conversation is different. It starts with, “Can we find a way to fix this problem if we work together?” rather than, “This is what has been decided, we have to have your vote.”
As a state representative, there was more than one occasion when I said, “If you want me in at the end, include me at the beginning.” Talking at the beginning makes everything easier. The relationship starts with cooperation, avoiding later confrontation. Expectations are not raised. There is a plan for moving forward, building on what can be done now.
A Party is rewarded, not by what is proposed, but by what is accomplished. The beneficial changes in people’s lives, incremental though they might be. Has there been progress?
After the 2020 election, however, the thought was not to make progress but to “get big things done.” With “complete control” of government by Democrats there was a “once in a lifetime opportunity” to “reshape the country”.
Even though control was tenuous (a tie in the Senate, a three-vote margin in the House), it was assumed the votes would be there for whatever was proposed. No cautionary flags were raised.
The Party had “a mandate to govern aggressively” “press ahead with grand overhauls”, make “epic plans” “vigorous and far reaching”, that are “transformative” in their effects. In short: be “big and bold”, “govern like you want to save the world.”
Those were the words being bandied about early in 2021. The expectations cultivated. That was then. Today, the votes have not been there even for the less ambitious goals now on the table.
There is something to be said for having a vision of what can be. Something to work toward. Raising expectations of what can actually be accomplished beyond what is doable, however, particularly in the short term, results in disappointment, erosion of trust, and anger. There is blowback against the messengers of exaggerated hope.
We see this play out in the falling approval ratings for the President. The largest drop has occurred among Democrats, those whose hopes were raised the most.
I got an email this week with the headline, “Progress vs. Perfection: How do you measure success?” It was not from any political pundit, but from my health care provider writing about New Year’s resolutions and the downside of setting unrealistic goals. As with truths in many human endeavors, it also applies to politics.
But coming from a nurse with no political intent in mind, we might be more receptive.
“Perfection isn’t realistic … Goals like that force you to focus on your failures. … Looking at progress rather than perfection allows you to see what is working, rather than what you’ve failed to accomplish … Approach problem-solving as an experiment … Continue to look for better ways to approach the challenge … Progress is hopeful because it’s always there, as long as you are making adjustments and improvements.”
Larry Diamond, a senior fellow in international studies at Stanford, made the same point in a recent column, applying it specifically to politics. “… democratic responsibility demands that we not sacrifice what is valuable and possible on the altar of the unattainable. We must embrace the reform we can achieve …and continue the fight for the important reform work of the future.”
Douglas Kane is the author of "Our Politics: Reflections on Political Life" published in 2019 by Southern Illinois University Press
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