Is politics broken?
CNN congressional correspondent Dana Bash, B.A. ’93, former Sen. Robert Bennett, former U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr. and Associate Professor of Political Science John Sides offered their thoughts on the current state of the U.S. government and the role of the media to a capacity crowd at the Jack Morton Auditorium Monday.
“Broken Politics, Mixed-Up Media: Can This Be Fixed?,” a Center for Innovative Media Conversation Series event, was moderated by School of Media and Public Affairs (SMPA) Director Frank Sesno.
Mr. Sesno began by setting the scene of the current American political climate. Citing recent surveys, he said 74 percent of Americans feel the country is on the wrong track, 62 percent believe their children will not be financially better off, and the U.S. Congress approval rating is at 15 percent. He also noted the rise of the Tea Party and increasing popularity of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
“This is an angry country right now,” said Mr. Sesno, “so the question is: What do we do about it? Where does it come from? Can it be fixed?”
Agreeing that there were some significant problems in today’s government, the panelists shared their opinions on what is “broken.”
Mr. Bennett, a 2011 SMPA distinguished fellow, said there needs to be “lubrication in the machinery”— a willingness to work together— in order to get things done in the U.S. Capitol.
“We have a legislative branch that isn’t legislating, an executive branch that isn’t executing, and an electorate that is surly and angry but aren’t sure what their preferred solution would be; they just want change,” he said.
“It’s an American tradition to have people hate politicians and for politicians to hate each other,” he added, “but it’s certainly much more difficult to have an intelligent approach to solving the problem in today’s atmosphere than it was even as recently as five years ago.”
Ms. Bash, who has worked on Capitol Hill for the last 15 years, said she could sense the current lack of bipartisanship, which she feels may be a result of politicians returning to their home districts whenever possible at the expense of spending time in D.C. and getting to know one another.
“You used to, as a reporter, follow all these negotiations—or whatever the big issue was at the time—and there was always drama and points of intrigue and conspiracy but you kind of always knew at the end of the day … the adults would get into a room and fix it,” she said. “Those adults are really hard to find, and it’s a little scary.”
Dr. Sides, founder of the popular blog “The Monkey Cage,” said the parties are further apart ideologically than ever before.
“I don’t know if it’s broken,” he said, “but part of what makes it difficult to get some things done at least on a bipartisan basis is finding some areas of agreement when there are relatively few centrists or moderates left in each party.”
Mr. Ford, an analyst for MSNBC’s Morning Joe, said President Barack Obama’s lack of leadership may ultimately cost him the reelection.
“There are big moments all the time in Congress; the question is whether or not you have leadership at the top in the House and the Senate and you have a president who’s able to rise above it,” he said. “And for whatever reason we have not been able to achieve that.”
“The president has to figure out how to forge compromise,” he added.
The panelists also talked about the debt ceiling, the Tea Party, campaign finance, gerrymandering—or restructuring electoral districts to benefit one political party—and the role of the press.
After the panelists viewed a campaign ad from Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-Minn.), Mr. Ford said he believes the media “has a responsibility” to clear up misinformation in campaign ads.
But despite the rampant pessimism on the Hill, Mr. Ford said there is hope that the economic and political climate will improve.
“We’re the most diverse [country], the most understanding, we have a rule of law that everybody in the world envies, we have to build walls to keep people out….there’s a lot to be hopeful about but it takes leadership to unleash it all,” he said.
Mr. Bennett said his optimism is based on the creativity and skill of U.S. citizens.
“The government is not geared to fix what’s wrong with the economy,” he said. “I’m convinced that American entrepreneurism and American innovation will fix what’s wrong….The most important thing we can do is stop looking to government as the way to make it work and recognize there are other things we should all be doing.”
