I
am often asked why, in a country of such talent and imagination, the
U.S. political class is so feeble. Why are our politicians so
uninspiring, to say nothing of ignorant and oafish?
The
short answer is because political life is awful, and potential
candidates have to weigh the effect on their families plus the wear and
tear of becoming a candidate, let alone winning.
I would name three barriers that keep good people out of politics: the money, the primary system and the media scrutiny.
Taking
these in order, you must have access to enormous funding to be a
candidate. Mr. Smith, the character in the 1939 movie “Mr. Smith Goes to
Washington,” was appointed. He didn’t have to subject his rectitude to
the electoral process.
A
candidate for Congress must get substantial funding from the outset and
be prepared to spend much of his or her career raising money, which
frequently means bending your judgment to the will of donors. Yes, Mr.
Smith, to some extent, the system is inherently corrupt.
I
asked a prominent political consultant what he asks a candidate before
going to work for him or her. First is money: Do you have your own, or
can you raise it? Second are skeletons in the closet: Have you been
arrested for indecent exposure or drunk-driving offenses?
Finally,
the consultant told me, he asks a candidate: What do you stand for? In
short, the mechanisms of politics triumph over principles. A member of
the House once told me that he spent much of his time meeting with
donors and attending fundraisers. “You’ve got to do it,” he said.
In
the days of the smoke-filled rooms (there really was a lot of smoke),
the party — the professionals — prevailed. In the primary system, the
odds are on those who are extreme and appeal to the fringes of their
party ideology. The party doesn’t shape today’s candidates; they shape
the party.
Look
at the Republicans, little recognizable from the party of old; the
party that was held in check by the New England stalwarts. Or look at
how the Democrats fight to avoid falling into the chasm of the far left.
Once, the Democrats were held in check by labor, which gave the party
an institutional center.
On
the face of it, the primary system favors grassroots democracy and the
individual. In fact, it favors those with rich friends who will cough
up.
Finally,
there is media scrutiny. If you want to run for office, you become a
public plaything. Everything you ever wrote or said can and will be
dredged up.
Opposition
research operatives will interview old lovers; check on what you wrote
in the school yearbook; rake through your social media posts; and that
unfortunate slip of the tongue in a local television interview years ago
will be reprised on the evening news. You have a target on your back,
and it will be there every day you are in office.
This
delving into every corner of life is a huge barrier that keeps a lot of
talent out of politics. Anyone who has ever had a disputed business
dealing, a DUI arrest (not even a conviction) or a messy divorce is
advised to forego a political career, no matter how talented and how
much real expertise Mr. Smith might bring to the statehouse or Congress.
Run
for political office, and you put your family at risk, your private
life on display and, having been hung out to dry, you may not even win.
These
are some of the factors that might explain why Congress is so risible
and why such outrageously fringy people now occupy high office.
Having
observed politics on three continents, I am firmly of the belief that
it needs strong institutions in the form of local political associations
and party structure, and candidates should be judged on the body of
their work, not on a slip of the tongue or an indiscretion.
However,
the selection of candidates is always a hard call. If parties have too
much control over the system, party hacks are favored and new, quality
candidates are shut out.
If primaries continue as they have, the fringes triumph. Just look at the Congress — a smorgasbord of wackiness.
On Twitter: @llewellynking2
Llewellyn King is executive producer and host of "White House Chronicle" on PBS. |