Have you ever wondered why people get involved in politics? I suppose there’s a bit of a crusader rabbit in all of us. I confess to that. That may explain why people would engage in politics. They want to make things better. Maybe. When I was a member of the House of Delegates in the Virginia General Assembly, I served with many very fine people. They were not all motivated alike when pursuing public office. There was certainly no dishonor in any of them. Yet their motivations varied.
Some of my colleagues were elected from districts with a predominant ideology that almost assured their election as soon as they secured their party’s nomination. Once elected, they could expect to remain so, unless they committed some egregious crime that would have landed them in jail. Others were from swing districts, likely to tip either way based on the issues that were dominate at the time. The successful candidates won either by hard work or the benefit of having bad opponents. But remember this: The person who won by a single vote would be called “Delegate.” However close the election, the folks I served with usually fell into one of three categories.
First were those who simply wanted to be somebody. The title “Delegate” is an honorable one. Indeed, such a person would be referred to as the “Honorable Mr. or Ms. So-and-So.” Nice touch. Looks good on the business card too. They would have a nice office in Richmond, a very responsive legislative staff and great respect both in their official and unofficial capacities. Most of these folks were happy to just be there, yet they took their representative duties seriously. They eschewed firebrand antics and were not particularly enamored of hot-button issues. They would vote their consciences, but with a keen eye toward how the people back home felt about that topic.
In the second group were those who wanted to improve the policies that affected their constituents and Virginians at large. I knew many very smart colleagues who worked hard to make things better. They also cared much about their constituents and were wise in sticking to their knitting. But many were skeptical of attention-getters and highly partisan issues—even if attractive or amusing—preferring to conserve their political capital to secure passage of the matters they thought important. Many in this group worked hard to press for common sense legislation.
Then there was a third group. They were the folks who, from their first day in the legislature, made clear through their actions and rhetoric, that they were there as a steppingstone to be somewhere else. For them, the motivation was higher office. Of course, they cared about the constituents, and like the majority of their colleagues, they wanted to advance good policies as they saw fit. But they also acted with the best interest of their own future in mind. Again, that is not dishonorable. But it’s important to understand that the allure to power is strong, even when tempered by the desire to serve one’s constituents and advance the policies that seem wise at the time.
Frankly, I enjoyed working with colleagues in these various groupings and I too was motivated to pursue higher office at one point. But there is a caution here.
Pursuing an elective office to set the conditions for attaining higher office can distort the best intentions of an elected leader. Want proof? Consider this. We are amid a national election season now. How much are you hearing from politicians about how they want to take care of constituent issues? As I use to say, “getting the cats out of the trees,” meaning those routine challenges people have when they turn to their elected leaders for help. Likewise, how many politicians running for Congress do you hear discuss how Social Security is in jeopardy, how Medicare is nearly insolvent, or how the US is paying so much on the interest of our national debt that soon we will have no money to operate the government.
What we do hear and see are politicians singing their own praises and declaring when it is suggested that they might one day run for higher office, “Aw shucks, I’m focused on being so-and so, and not thinking of that.” Baloney. They undoubted are. And that is what is wrong with politics.
In a way, elected politics has become an obsession for some, a career of living off the taxpayers and enjoying the power and prestige of office, to say nothing of lucrative opportunities that follow after they retire. That was never the intent of our Founders who believed that people should serve in elected office for a season and then return to private life. We are nowhere close to that today.
Time for term limits, America.
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