18 April 2013
Two Kinds of Politicians
In the light of the failure of the U.S. Senate to pass a background check requirement on gun purchasers, it is evident that there are two kinds of politicians in that congressional body. Politicians live by the force of their personalities, by being able, like actors, to convince voters to suspend disbelief in the shortcomings of their policy proposals. One sort of politician makes proposals based on his or her personal beliefs and analysis; the second sort makes those proposals based primarily on his or her judgment that the position he or she takes on the issue will lead to reelection.
Of course, the first kind of politicians may be called fools by the second sort. After all, politics is their chosen career and our system of government is designed to produce its democratic result through the natural desire of representatives to prolong their continuance in office.
President Obama and former representative Giffords both have chosen the wrong target of their denigration. They must redouble their effort to change public sentiment on gun possession and, for that matter, to delink the preservation of our freedom from the need to bear arms against a potentially oppressive government. In an era when the power of communications through personal networking may carry more political clout than bullets, it is not unreasonable to expect success in combating the gun lobby by appealing directly to the public on the merits of both gun control and holding our elected representatives to account.
In the light of the failure of the U.S. Senate to pass a background check requirement on gun purchasers, it is evident that there are two kinds of politicians in that congressional body. Politicians live by the force of their personalities, by being able, like actors, to convince voters to suspend disbelief in the shortcomings of their policy proposals. One sort of politician makes proposals based on his or her personal beliefs and analysis; the second sort makes those proposals based primarily on his or her judgment that the position he or she takes on the issue will lead to reelection.
Of course, the first kind of politicians may be called fools by the second sort. After all, politics is their chosen career and our system of government is designed to produce its democratic result through the natural desire of representatives to prolong their continuance in office.
President Obama and former representative Giffords both have chosen the wrong target of their denigration. They must redouble their effort to change public sentiment on gun possession and, for that matter, to delink the preservation of our freedom from the need to bear arms against a potentially oppressive government. In an era when the power of communications through personal networking may carry more political clout than bullets, it is not unreasonable to expect success in combating the gun lobby by appealing directly to the public on the merits of both gun control and holding our elected representatives to account.
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