COMMENTARY | According to CNN, Michele Bachmann has labeled herself, after dropping from the presidential race, as the "perfect candidate." While this utterance of misguided arrogance is incorrect in and of itself, I am disappointed it came in response to a question about which candidate was most conservative.
Being most liberal or most conservative does not equal perfection. Given Congress' current track record on bipartisanship, political extremes on either side of the sociopolitical spectrum should be avoided. As America struggles to climb out of the economic recession, we need more, not less, bipartisanship and consensus. Being the most conservative in a legislature or a field of candidates should be seen as a liability, not a bonus.
Extreme conservatives and extreme liberals should be removed from office because they lack the ability to work across the political aisle to get things done. Since when did gridlock in Washington become fashionable? Having strong principles is fine, and should even be encouraged, but not at the expense of helping the American people. We need a Congress that can get things done, and politicians like Bachmann, reveling in their "principled" devotion to their party's line, do little to help things.
We need more mavericks, more independents and more moderates. People willing, distasteful as it sounds, to make a deal. To work across the political aisle. A perfect candidate is one who can get done what he or she promised while remaining honest and ethical. It is not easy, and MIGHT even be impossible in all practical terms.
While the liberal-conservative consensus that existed from the days of the Great Depression all the way through the early days of Vietnam MIGHT have crumbled long ago, our current political era of praising aggression and refusal to compromise and mocking second-guessing and "flip-flopping" may be harming our ability to pass good laws. Expecting our Republicans and our Democrats to march in opposing lockstep is a problem rather than a solution.
A perfect candidate is one who breaks the lockstep and steps whichever way is needed to get the job done right. Bachmann, a perfect candidate you ain't.
9 comments