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Candidates, Voters Need Civics Lesson

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 10, 2008

As I watched the returns on Super Tuesday, one of the campaign-rally interviews stuck out. "It's the most exciting presidential race, certainly in my lifetime," said a 60-year-old woman in New York City.

Cable news talking heads also have talked about how energized voters are for this election, particularly younger ones. Many believe the election of their favorite candidate will produce a cataclysmic shift in the nation's direction.

After almost a year of hearing presidential candidates, I think most of them, along with a lot of voters, need a civics lesson, because it takes more than a president to get those things done.

There is certainly nothing wrong with candidates for president telling us what they stand for; that's what they're supposed to do. But too often they come off as if they can do these things by a simple stroke of the pen once they get in the Oval Office.

Gridlock Starts In Congress

Candidates and voters need to remember that there are other branches of government besides the executive branch. Sometimes, especially during some of these presidential debates, these guys and gal talk as if there were no Congress. They need to be reminded that no executive proposal is simply adopted by presidential fiat.

Last week on this page, former Sen. Bob Graham wrote about how frustrated voters have become "as presidents and members of Congress have repeatedly achieved deadlock rather than consensus on issues that are critical to our nation." That's because legislation undergoes consideration, study, debate, amending and voting up or down in both houses of Congress. There's also the Supreme Court that makes rulings on laws' constitutionality.

In short, we don't elect people to be dictators for four years.

Let's not forget that Woodrow Wilson couldn't get the U.S. Senate to ratify his League of Nations Covenant, Bill Clinton's health care plan never made it out of a congressional committee, and George W. Bush couldn't persuade a Republican Congress to reform Social Security.

Pay Attention To Other Races

Of course, all the candidates know this, and some know it better than others. But it just doesn't sound very, well, presidential to go out on the stump and say something like this:

"Folks, this is my vision for (pick an important issue), and I want to work with Congress and the court to help us as a nation. If you like this idea as I have proposed it, vote for congressional members who you think will work in a pragmatic way to help us all come to a consensus after study and discussion and debate. I'll lead, but we have to find answers together. The plans I propose may not come out the same way at the end, but I can accept that because that's the American way."

Or, as John F. Kennedy said in 1960: "The function and responsibility of the president is to set before the American people the unfinished business, the things we must do if we are going to succeed as a nation."

In 2004, sitting members of the U.S. House who ran again for office had a 98 percent re-election rate; in 2006, it was down to 94 percent. Voters who want change shouldn't be so accommodating to incumbents. Pay attention to the upcoming congressional races as well. Study the issues, and remember that a lot of what you're going to hear is easier said than done.

Joseph H. Brown is a Tribune editorial writer.

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