The New Hampshire primary is over. The noise level returns to normal. The moment the polls closed, my phone stopped ringing as if the wires were cut. In this blessed silence, I am dismayed to think about the overall messages delivered by the primary.
Each candidate’s message was that everything is broken and I am the only person willing and able to fix it. You wouldn’t want those other candidates anyway. They don’t have any character and you can’t trust them. My summary take away is the message that while any candidate may be bad, the other person is even worse. I prefer to vote for the better of the two choices. Based on this rhetoric, I will have to vote for the lesser of two evils.
Yes, Congress is broken. It seems like congress used to be concerned about what is best for the country. It has now deteriorated into a tug-of-war. Each side only wins when they can pull the other side across the line. This causes at least two problems. The first is that the rope that they are using is the American people. If the rope breaks in the process, tough luck for the rope. The second is that in win-lose situations, the losing side digs its heels in and becomes more determined to beat you next time. The battle shifts left and right in the same space ad infinitum. Decades later the contestants are at the same place fighting over the same line. This is not a recipe for progress.
The country is an increasingly diverse, increasingly segmented society. Effective Leadership practices demonstrate that positive things get accomplished through cooperation, understanding where the other person is coming from, recognizing that everyone can contribute good ideas and staying focused on a common goal.
I am disheartened that the primary rhetoric delivers the message that “I can shout louder and more firmly than the others. I will be able to pull more strongly on my end of the rope. I am the best at making sure that the other team loses the tug of war.” This win at all costs attitude is not working. The message I take away from this primary is that the candidates promise to be better at playing by a set of rules that don’t work.
In the movie “War Games”, the hero has to convince the computer that nuclear war is a game where no one wins. I am looking for the person that can convince Congress that they are also playing a game where no one wins.
I haven’t seen that person yet.
