Honest Politics

Mr. Reagan will raise taxes, and so will I. He won’t tell you. I just did.

-Walter Mondale, Democratic presidential candidate, 1984.

After pledging his honesty to the American people by being forthright about tax hikes in the 1984 presidential race, Walter Mondale went on to receive the lowest number of electoral votes in the history of the Democratic Party. A rare attempt at honest politics failed miserably. But despite the evidence which demonstrates that honest politicians never prevail, voters continue to expect truthfulness and are aghast when two years down the road few of the politician’s original promises have been fulfilled. At the ballot box, however, honesty won’t win many votes. This is the downfall of democracy. What is appealing to voters at the polls will elicit claims of betrayal and deceit just a few months into office.

President Obama's approval rating has fallen steadily in 2009

There is no better example than the current president, Barack Obama. He built his campaign on hope, and continues to suffer the consequences when reality is not as promising as his campaign might have suggested. A few months into Obama’s term as president, hope is no longer enough to satisfy Americans. In 2009, his approval rating has fallen steadily in all three major political demographics: Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. People are gradually realizing that the reason timelines and details are minimized during a political campaign is that they were too grim; no one wanted to hear them. Half a decade for the economy to recover, 30,000 troops to Afghanistan, and a watered down compromise of a healthcare bill hardly makes for a convincing political campaign.

Public approval isn’t everything, however. Richard Nixon, widely regarded as one of the least liked presidents in American history, brought the U.S. out of Vietnam and pushed progressive economic and social reforms. Ronald Reagan, one of the most well liked presidents, advocated deregulation and created the economic bubble which burst in 2008. Americans focus on Nixon’s short term transgressions and ignore his lasting contributions, while Reagan’s short term gains are heralded and the problems he created ignored. So in Obama’s case, the falling approval rate might be a good sign, or at the very least, a predictable one. He, like virtually every presidential candidate, has over-promised and under-delivered. That’s what the voters want. They’ll never vote for someone like Walter Mondale who is brutally honest about his plans. And even though they know that politician’s promises are far from reality, they need a scapegoat, and therefore will pretend midway through his term that they’ve been duped.

That’s the problem with democracy. Even though voters might pretend they are protecting the best interest of the nation, they are only looking to avoid acknowledging the nation’s problems for as long as possible. In a less participatory form of government, only officials could do this, but in a democracy, everyone gets to join in. George Bush was a master at this; he used the aftermath of September 11th to hold his approval rating afloat for years. Obama is decidedly more honest and realistic about America’s problems, yet he is being punished for it. Everyone has known all along that Barack Obama can’t solve America’s problems in three months. As Walter Mondale showed us, as much as voters might demand honesty and integrity from their politicians, they’d rather hear a reassuring voice than the voice of reason. And so as Obama’s approval rating slips, we shouldn’t worry. After all, what Americans think of a politician has proved a poor indicator of their success.

Related posts:

1. The Year in Review 2009, Part 2: The Economy and Healthcare With a new president, Barack Obama, Congress set out to tackle the president's two biggest goals: to repair the economy...
2. The New Right Wing Conservatism used to be known as just another political philosophy. But in the last decade, a group of sensationalist right...
3. Go Out and Vote! Today’s elections are certainly less exciting and prominent than the one last year, but they are no less important in...
4. The Year in Review 2009, Part 1: New Governments 2009 was not exactly the most memorable year. If anything, it’s notable for being one of the gloomiest years of...
5. Do Foreigners Like Our President More Than We Do? On the surface it is obvious that Barack Obama is a revolutionary figure in American politics. He is young, eloquent,...