Gifts for Political Figures
By Sean Evans, Chair and Professor of Political Science
Dec 26, 2014 -
Yesterday, children all over West Tennessee woke up early and rushed to their Christmas tree to see what Santa Claus brought them. In that same spirit, I would like to play Santa and give Christmas presents to various political figures.
First for the Tennessee Democratic Party, a credible statewide candidate. In the past two election cycles, the Democratic Party has nominated candidates simply because they were the first name listed the ballot and/or had the name of a cartoon character. In fact, Tennessee Democrats have not nominated an elected official, a proxy for a quality candidate, for a statewide office since 2006. Tennessee needs a strong opposition party to keep the GOP in check and that will not happen until Democrats can win elections outside of urban areas and nominate competent statewide candidates.
For Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), a copy of Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People. It is common for partisans to hope partisan opponents fail. It is rare that significant segments of the one’s own party hopes Cruz’s presidential ambitions fail while the other party prays that Cruz wins the nomination because he is unelectable. Moreover even if Cruz wins the presidency, he will need the support of those same House and Senate members that he constantly irritates with hopeless and self-defeating strategies like shutting down the government, faux filibusters, and surprise parliamentary procedures. Cruz should be as conservative as he wants; just avoid stupid actions that alienate your colleagues.
For Hilary Clinton, Santa needs to bring a strong, primary challenge. Hilary is a risk adverse politician with no vision for her potential presidency and few major political accomplishments. The worse thing to happen to her would be an easy nomination campaign. She needs a strong primary challenge to force her to develop a rationale for running, a vision for where she will take the country, an explanation for how she is different from President Obama, and a tested campaign organization ready for a difficult 2016 general election.
In Dr. Ben Carson’s stocking, political experience. The presidency is not an entry level position and no one actually believes that neurosurgery prepares one to be an effective president. If he really wants to run for president, he should run for Congress or governor and then serve competently in that position. Only then should he believe that he can be leader of the free world.
For President Obama, the ability to negotiate with Republicans. The Obama Administration has negotiated agreements with Iran, Syria, and Cuba. Yet, the president and his aides struggle to negotiate with members of Congress, whether Democrat or Republican, on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue to pass legislation. If the president would spend as much time reaching out to Congressional Republicans as he does to rogue regimes, he may be able to pass laws rather than revert to taking unilateral actions.
Finally for Congressional Republicans, a willingness to compromise on secondary issues. One should never compromise one’s principles and it is fine to draw distinctions between oneself and one’s political opponents. However, not all issues impact one’s principles. Republicans can find common ground with Democrats on defense spending, trade policy, criminal justice reform, energy policy, etc. Working with Democrats on these issues is good for the country and the GOP’s electoral prospects in 2016.
This column originally appeared in the December 26th edition of The Jackson Sun