Charles Shiflett Column May 1, 2005

We Only Have Ourselves To Blame

Conservatives are extremely frustrated right now. Though Republicans have the majority in both the
U.S. Senate and House, it's been tough the past couple of years to get much of the conservative
agenda passed.

We blame the leftist dominated media for spinning news coverage against us… which is true to some
degree. We blame Democrats for spreading propaganda… which they do occasionally. We blame
lobbyists for buying off key votes to stop legislation in its tracks.

While all of the reasons above are valid, there's another even more powerful reason why the
conservative agenda seems to be moving in slow motion, and it involves a mirror and human nature.
We'll return to this line of reasoning in a moment.

Over the past fifteen years I've helped train a lot of political candidates. Whenever I conduct a
candidate training class, I usually open with this line: “You may become the best legislator,
commissioner, or school board member who has ever lived, but if you don't get elected, no one will
ever know.”

That's the bottom line. Like it or not candidates must do whatever it takes to get elected and only then
focus on governing, and of course on getting reelected.

At this point, I spend the next hour or so helping candidates learn the ropes of dealing with the public
and media. One of the first points is to learn to speak in short sound bites. Never give the opposition or
media something they can use against you.

The second lesson is to learn how to project warmth and likeability. Various polling and focus group
studies over the years have revealed some interesting things. If a candidate or elected official comes
across as likeable, the public imagines that candidate or official holds the same views as they do…
even if he or she doesn't.

It's very simple: Be a nice guy or gal, and never say anything too controversial. If you do have to take a
tough stand, do it and quickly move on. Never argue or engage the opposition. I'm sure several elected
officials who have mastered this concept quickly come to mind.

Of course there are examples of elected officials who were successful even though they totally ignored
conventional thought and instead shot straight with the public. Bob Barr and Zell Miller fit this mold. It
just seems there's no middle ground.

In reality, most elected officials are just actors on the grand stage of politics. They may firmly believe
in what they publicly stand for, but most successful politicians understand the role they've been given
and play the part to perfection. The true public servant is rare indeed and has an even tougher role to
play.

Many politicians live by the public opinion poll. Each day their messages are crafted based upon what
the public wants to hear. Bill and Hillary Clinton quickly come to mind.

Now here's where the mirror and our old friend human nature come into play. Politicians only act the
way they do because we as a people have trained them to behave in the manner they do.

We don't pay attention. We don't hold elected officials accountable for what they do. We have a short
attention span and an even shorter memory. We vote for people we like, instead of people who believe
as we do. We listen to those pesky sound bites instead of fleshing out the issues.

We classify people who try to warn us against political excess as being extremists. See no evil… hear
no evil. Here's a bit of history for you… many historians estimate that only five to ten percent of the
colonists supported the American Revolution in its opening days.

Hey, even with the excessive taxation and oppressive decrees of King George, things back then
weren't that bad. Why risk property or livelihood just because the king was being a little tough on the
colonies? Those revolutionaries like Washington, Henry, and Jefferson would today be classified as
part of the extreme right wing… dangerous extremists all.

Now fast forward to today… though I've supported it since the late 1980's, I'm still waiting for true tax
reform like implementation of the Fair Tax plan as extolled by Congressman John Linder. Plus I've
almost given up on the concept of real Social Security reform.

Short of another major terrorist attack within the confines of the U.S., I doubt we'll ever crack down on
illegal immigration. And if nothing changes, Medicaid/Medicare will bankrupt the national treasury in a
few short years.

Though complicit in varying degrees, senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson along with
congressmen Phil Gingrey and John Linder are not alone. We have only ourselves to blame for the
current political climate and lack of success of the conservative agenda. Mirror, mirror on the wall…