The Leadership Gap

As the results from Florida rolled in on Election Night, 2022, it appeared that a Red Wave would wash across America. But as the night wore on, that Republican sweep did not materialize. Indeed, it was a slack tide. And when all the results are in, Republicans will likely wind up with a potentially tied Senate—again—and a slim majority in the House of Representatives. If anything, Americans voted for almost no change beyond tapping the brakes on the Biden Administration by putting the House in GOP hands. Are there any lessons to be gleaned from this result?

First, America is obviously politically divided, in some cases bitterly so.  A culture war is certainly underway, unabated. So too is frustration people feel about the economy, crime, education, and border security. But a firm majority has not emerged to deal with any of it. 

Second, the new Republican Speaker of the House will be tested from his first day in office to focus his majority on trying to resolve some of the issues we face in America. Certainly, we need to get our spending under control. Also, our porous border situation has been completely neglected. Crime is on the rise. Sadly, Congress does not appear a bit better postured to deal with any of this. Deadlock seems to be looming in the background with a House unlikely to agree on unifying approaches to our problems and a Senate inclined to remain faithful to the Biden Administration’s agenda, such as it is. America, it seems, voted for stalemate, maybe not wittingly, but that is certainly the result. 

Finally, we need to acknowledge that we have a leadership gap in America. Often, we are given a candidate pool to choose from that is lacking. We need more than accusatory rhetoric and political balderdash. Certainly, we need more than raw narcissism or cult of personality figures. We need leaders, men and women who understand the problems we face and who will focus on solutions. And those solutions must be consistent with constitutional and free market principles. We need responsible governance that is frugal, focused, and limited. None of this is occurring because we have elected people who are more concerned about creating a rationale for their re-election than for addressing the challenges we face in America. We need leaders who understand that if you are not willing to lose, you don’t deserve to win. What does that mean?

It means that leaders must do what is necessary to lead. That requires leaders who will spend their political capital after an election to blaze the right path towards the best solutions. Sometimes that means telling people things they do not want to hear. If a program that Americans support is financially insolvent, then it may mean either raising revenues—taxes—to fund it or cutting benefits to contain costs. Maybe both. If our borders are not secure, then what needs to occur to secure them? That may require compromise to resolve our byzantine immigration system, while we secure our borders. Crime, for example, will not be adequately addressed until we rein in lax law enforcement policies that mollycoddle criminals. That requires steely-eyed leaders who will not tolerate lawbreakers, not apologists for that bad behavior. And when it comes to the flimsiness of woke policies, we need leaders who will focus on what is essential to strengthen society, but not on a boutique of vanities that have utterly nothing to do with addressing the legitimate problems we face.

In doing all of this, leaders must risk their jobs in the pursuit of honest and effective solutions. The “my way or the highway” approach simply must be discarded for genuine compromise. As President Ronald Reagan believed, leaders must be willing to recognize success when they see it. In that regard, if you can secure 80 percent of what you are seeking, take it and hope to come back later to pursue the remaining 20 percent. Firebrands on both sides of the political spectrum may cry foul in taking less than 100 percent. But the extreme voices often care more about their slogans than what must be done. Leaders must show resolve to address problems and ignore the catcalls from the complaining class, even at the risk of criticism from their own side of the political aisle.

Leadership isn’t easy. It’s hard. And it takes character, the kind that keeps a keen focus on the tasks at hand and is willing to absorb the criticism of detractors. Where are those leaders? 

We might want to start the search in Florida for leaders who have demonstrated strong leadership. Those candidates were rewarded by voters who recognize what leaders look like. Indeed, the election there was the single bright light on 8 November 2022, because authentic leadership won. 

  

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