What Makes A Good Elected Official?

"What makes a good elected representative?  Really, I want well-thought-out answers, what is it that makes a good elected official?"

Almost year ago, a Facebook friend posted this query.  After some consideration, I posted a few, brief thoughts.  I now expand on those thoughts.

The short answer is statesmanship instead of politics.

What, exactly, is statesmanship?  Well, it may be one of those concepts that fits under the "I know it when I see it" umbrella, even though most people find it impossible to define with precision.  It has been called something entirely retrospective, meaning you are named a statesman after your death, by acclamation of others.  I won't go that far, but I will say it isn't a title you start out having; it is an honor you earn – over the long haul – by actions which improve the quality of life in your community.  If you're interested in having "statesman" on your tombstone, I propose that the following character traits (in no particular order) will certainly move you in the right direction (pun intended).

1) Faith

I look at faith as the certain knowledge or firm belief that there is Something in this universe greater than oneself.  Even an atheist can have faith. S/he can believe in "mankind" or "humanity," meaning, at least, the inherent goodness of people and in the value of community.  Robert Heinlein, dean of science fiction writers and consistent criticizer of religion, once said, "By cultivating the beautiful, we scatter the seeds of heavenly flowers as, by doing good, we cultivate those that belong to humanity."  I think he is poetically saying that when we do good, we encourage good in others, and all goodness is a benefit for us all, whether it touches us directly or indirectly.

I do not require that individual officeholders believe in God.  If they do, I want one whose public record matches their religious beliefs – hypocrisy is an unattractive political attribute.  If they do not, I demand that they recognize that most Americans are Christian, that the religious have equal right to express and support their positions and that our religious beliefs cannot be separated from our political and social beliefs, nor should they be.  Our faith is the rules by which we deal with our God; our politics are the rules by which we deal with our community.  The two cannot be effectively separated.

2) Integrity

Also called ethics, integrity is a set of core principles that s/he will never violate.  (These are, by the way, almost always faith-based values.)  It is almost cliché to say, "Every man has his price," and totally false.  Most people cannot be bought.  Political success is short term, reputation is forever.  "A coward dies a thousand deaths... a soldier dies but once," wrote Shakespeare in Julius Caesar.  Not physical death, of course, but death of character – piece by piece, slowly, unnoticeably, over the course of years.

Are you afraid to be defeated in your bid for re-election two or four or six years down the road?  If so, if your priority is to keep your job, you will do what it takes to keep your job, regardless of what it might do to your constituents.  If you care about the people you represent, you will do what is best for the people and to hell with the consequences!

3) Honesty

Honesty is the application of integrity to relationships and dealings with others.  In an episode of the TV police drama NCIS, the coroner (Dr. Mallard, played by David McCallum) is studying for a psychology exam.  To the question, "What is the difference between ethics and honesty?" he replies, "An ethical man knows it's wrong to cheat on his wife, an honest man doesn't do it."

I add Phoenix' Rules for Re-election, #1: "Every office-holder seeking re-election should be considered unworthy until proven worthy."  Look at the record, but don't expect that you will support every measure that office-holder supported – because you won't – simply ask if the actions concur with the rhetoric?  Case in point:  A certain US senator has consistently claimed to support a balanced budget while consistently voting for trillions of dollars in deficit spending and increased debt ceilings.  "How do you tell that a politician is lying? Their lips are moving," is an old joke, but it's still around because there is considerable truth to it. 

4) Patriotism

I define patriotism as a certain knowledge of or firm belief in American exceptionalism, in the principles of the US Constitution & America's manifest destiny, and a willingness (one might also say a fearlessness) to die or kill to preserve, protect & defend this Republic and its way of life.

Is America the greatest nation on Earth?  I am certain that it is.  Now, in saying that, I acknowledge certain facts:  Englishmen don't sing "Rule Britannia" because they like the tune.  Even the most ardent Communists called Russia the Rodina, which I believe translates roughly to Holy Mother Russia.  Mexicans love Mexico, Greeks love Greece, Monegasques love Monaco, and I think they should.  However – and this is the point – stack up all the accomplishments of those countries, or any country, against the accomplishments of America and Americans, and we win!  Our Constitution, our scientific advancements, our economic accomplishments, our literary attainments, our artistic expressions, our 43 changes of executive leadership (39 of them accomplished without violence), dozens of changes in legislative majority, and so on, are unmatched in human history.  Despite all the tragedies, felonies and idiocies of the last two and a half years, patriots refuse to believe that America's best days are behind us.

5) Conservatism

The understanding that government never does it as well as the private sector; that nothing any government does for its jurisdiction will cover every case in that jurisdiction; and that individuals can be trusted to choose their own pursuit of happiness.

In short, treat other adults like adults.

6) Charity

How often have you heard, when someone has really screwed up, "I was only trying to help"?  The fact is, that most who are "trying to help," if I may put it so, don't.  Many times, they make it worse.  One great example is a suggestion of Rep. David Crockett, which I relate in his own words:

"Mr. Speaker, I have as much respect for the memory of the deceased Naval Officer and as much sympathy for the suffering of the living...as any man in this House of Representatives.  But we must not permit our respect for the dead, or our sympathy for the part of the living to lead us into an act of injustice to the balance of the living.

"I will not go into an argument to prove that Congress has no power to appropriate this money as an act of charity.  Every member of this body knows that we do not.  We have the right as individuals to give away as much of our own money as we please, to charity, but as members of congress, we have no right to appropriate even one dollar of the public money for such a purpose. ... Every man in this House of Representatives knows that this is not a 'debt.'  We cannot, without the grossest corruption, appropriate this money upon the pretense that it is a payment of a debt.  We have not the semblance of constitutional authority to appropriate it as a charity.

"Mr. Speaker ... I am the poorest man on this floor.  I cannot vote for this bill, but I will give one week's pay to the object, and if every member of congress will do the same, it will amount to more money (for the lady) than the bill proposes."

No member of the House took up the suggestion, but the event stands as a perfect example of real charity – when you give away your money, instead of someone else's.

7) Wisdom

Like integrity and honesty, wisdom is a knowledge of truth combined with experience, both good and bad.  As Star Trek's Admiral James T. Kirk (played by William Shatner) once observed, "We learn by doing."  Ben Franklin humorously noted that "Experience keeps a dear school, but only a fool learns in no other."  It is almost cliché to say, "I have learned more from my failures than from my successes."

The Founders set age limits on elected federal officials because they wanted a little life experience under those public officials' belts when they arrived at the federal city.  Today's conservatives point repeatedly to the experiments in socialism that run consistently through American history, from the Pilgrims to the utopian communities of the 19th Century to the progressive agendas of 20th Century Democrats and what do we find?  Failure – consistent, unaltering, total and complete failure – and yet, the liberals keep making the same mistakes over and over again.

On the flipside, the tea party movement looks at the so-called conservatives of the last two decades and says, "Wait just a second, Bucko!" (I was there, that is a direct quote.)  "Just because you say you're a conservative is no longer good enough. We are actually going to pay attention to what you do. And, if we don't like it, you will hear from us."  In 2010, lots of senators and representatives, governors and state legislatures got the message.

That message was, in the immortal words of Donald Trump, "You're fired!"

8) Vision

This term is actually misleading, everybody has a vision of the future, but we only call him/her a "visionary" if s/he puts forward a plan we like.  In that vein, it has been said that a politician looks no farther than the next election, but a statesman looks no closer than the next generation.  Not precisely true, but it does seem that politics cares more for the next election than for the next generation – since that next generation is not yet old enough to vote.

Current politicians have a vision for the future.  Unfortunately, every projection and measurement is telling them that this vision will pass on to the next generation a massive public debt, growth-crippling regulations and ever-increasing social turmoil.  In spite of these warnings, all of Washington's actions seem intent on increasing, rather than decreasing, these disasters.  Every four years some megaphone-toting moron claims to have a new vision for America – his or her presidential platform.  Most of these turn out to be the same old, tired rhetoric we've been hearing for 50 or 100 years.

We don't need a new vision for America, we need public officeholders who understand that the Founders' vision is still the best vision that anyone has come up with for America and who understand that vision sufficiently that they can implement it in the 21st Century.

Thanks for listening, tune in next week for another rant.