The Political Status Quo Must Change: Here's A Reason Why

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking that we used when we created them.”  Albert Einstein

We must change the political status quo!

In a previous commentary I quoted Doug Sosnik, who POLITICO characterized as “one of the Democrats’ most veteran strategists.”  Sosnik wrote a memorandum titled, “America…Still Looking For Change That It Can Believe In.”*

In the memorandum, Sosnik provides an excellent explanation about how politics affects the legislative process (policy making) in Congress:

            In order to get anything done, the tectonic plates of policy imperatives need to line up with the politics of elected officials.  But at this point, the politics simply don’t line up with the policy needs of our country.  That is, most of politicians’ short-term imperatives don’t line up with the country’s long-term challenges, while the decisions that are in the country’s long—term interests frequently create short-term liabilities for politicians.

He goes on to point out that:

            As we approach the 2014 midterm elections…these political needs will increasingly override policy considerations.  For Congressional Republicans – many of whom fear losing a primary more than they do a general election – the pressure will increase to deny Obama and the Democrats any wins.   For Democrats in the House there will be increased pressure to highlight the distinctions between the two parties rather than muddy the waters through compromise.  In order to take back the House, it is in the Democrats’ interest to nationalize the midterm elections by portraying Republicans as dangerous and out of touch with the mainstream of the country.

Here Sosnik, the political director in Bill Clinton’s White House, is emphatically stating that the short-term imperative need for politicians to win the next election supersedes the need to find long-term solutions to our Nation’s problems.  The very people we have hired, through the elective process, to find long-term solutions have subverted that process to enable them to pursue their own self-serving and self-aggrandizing interests.

Will our elected officials change their behaviors?  Why should they?  They have no incentive to do so.  In fact, the incentives of a long political career all support their working diligently to maintain the political status quo.  They win, but the Nation loses. 

Einstein said: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking that we used when we created them.”  Do we hope our career politicians will change their behaviors?  Yes, I believe we do.  However, I also believe we are naïve if we honestly think they will.

The “We” Einstein refers to includes us.  We helped create the problems that exist through our voting patterns.  We will not find solutions to our Nation’s problems if we don’t behave differently: vote differently.  We must change the political status quo!

* Sosnik, Doug.  “America…Still Looking For Change That It Can Believe In”  May 9, 2013.  Retrived from: http://images.politico.com/global/2013/05/09/sosnik_memo_59_final.html