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Volume 41, Issue 6
November 11, 2003

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January 20, 2004

Only elections get politicians moving

Carly
Shorman

News
Editor

The first words at the top of the article were “Democrats hail Bush...” I couldn’t understand. What action had the nation’s republican president taken that would lead the Democratic Party members to go so far as to “hail” the chief?
Then I remembered it was January 2004 - the first month of an election year. This is only the beginning.
A politician’s time in office can vary in how productive it is, but there are two times one can guarantee our public servant is honestly trying to get something done.
The first – my favorite – is when a term in office is coming to an end and the politician wants to either leave his mark or take advantage of power without fear of public retaliation. The second is the election year.
For one year out of four, the president is going to being paying extra attention to the happiness of the general public. This year he will care about the masses more than the giant campaign contributors, at least, in the public’s eye. After all, in only twelve months a politician often has to make the voters forget his prior time in office.
Currently, President Bush seems intent upon a major political revamp before people head for the polls. As the border becomes a global human rights concern and a possible port of entry for terrorists, Bush has a plan.
These words have driven fear into the bleeding hearts of liberals for some time, but the new proposal has what some think is an air of cooperation. Really, it’s just a way to win votes.
Also, in the same respect, putting a man on Mars and recent cooperation with Canada regarding Iraq are moves well-timed and popular, brought forth to preserve the Bush administration and win votes. He is certainly not the first president to employ such tactics, nor will he be the last.
If it were not an election year would these bold moves be made? Would the president announce that we would be on Mars in just over a decade? Would he broker Iraq-rebuilding deals with Canada, a country that appeared not to be involved with Iraq and that opposed the war in the first place? Would fences be mended in such a way if October 2004 wasn’t time to vote?
It’s possible. Not likely, but possible.
However, we should be grateful. If we only get a get-things-done leader for one out of four years, we should fully take advantage of the opportunity, accept the gifts that we are given, and applaud the progress that is being made.
Credit should not be given to the president, however, or his administration for these bold initiatives. Credit should be given to the president’s fear, the fear that a year from now a Democrat will be inaugurated, the fear for job security. Credit also should be given to the democratic process, or voting, without which the president would not have the fear in his heart to get good work done.
Yes, it’s politicking, but at least it’s getting things done.