An Open Door

Have you ever wondered why Congressional and Senatorial Democrats and Republicans seem to be much more effective at opposing, rather than working, with one another? Who hasn't? Well, on this morning of the inauguration, I'd like to offer a thought or two about this. And for the sake of simplicity, from now on I'll refer to them as Democrats and Republicans.

A minister friend of mine once said, "Belief determines behavior." If that's the case, then part of the reason Democrats and Republicans have difficulty working together is a no-brainer: they believe differently about the nature and role of government. On the surface, at least, this is true. When an economic stimulus package, for example, fails to pass the House, representatives on each side accuse one another either of failure to care about the American people or of having socialist inclinations. From the perspective of this observer, it's a sad state of affairs.

Now, before going any further, it's true that a great deal has been done in Washington with bi-partisan support. But generally speaking, there's enough backstage political engineering going on that "we the people" have every reason to wonder why they can't get along.

I think the basic problem lies in the fact that they just don't know how to leave partisanship behind and focus on the larger issues. Either there's too much at stake in terms of re-election or they can't imagine what it would look like to really work as one body. Furthermore, they've had no leadership. There has to be someone who is willing to say, what we've been doing isn't working and continuing to try the same thing over and over constitutes insanity.

Enter Barack Obama. Truthfully, I don't think his task will be straightforward. Well, I take that back. It is straightforward: he has to lead Congress in conceptualizing and enacting a new way of doing government. It's just not going to be easy. Working cooperatively has to become not only the ideal but the commitment of all. Now, human nature being what it is, I doubt we'll see the members of Congress lining up to accept this like new converts at an evangelistic crusade. But given time and appropriate modeling by the new President, there's a chance, and probably a pretty good one, that we're going to see a different Washington over the next four years.

The President Elect has already begun showing us how he intends to govern, not only by creating a bi-partisan cabinet, but by refusing to adopt a radical agenda. He has continued to actively seek input from the people. I've never heard a President in my lifetime ask the people to "keep those cards and letters coming in." The concept of a cooperative governance that includes the people, while a core principle of this Republic, is one that has not been so energetically promoted as it has by the President Elect. Here again, the internet has, and will continue, to play a key role. But my point is, Obama has shown an intention to govern from a position within the citizenry rather than from one that stands above the people. It's a leadership style that says, "go with me," instead of "go where I tell you."

The political pundits have been talking about how everyone who supports Obama has a story. For me, this inauguration represents an open door. Andrew Jackson used to invite the public inside the White House. I'm not sure we'll see quite that degree of freedom; we do live in far different times than Jackson. But it's not far-fetched to imagine a presidency that embraces the people, all of them, and particularly those who are in disagreement with its policies. For me, today is about a President who will stand at the door of government and say to everyone: "Welcome."