POLITICAL IDEALISM: the belief that election will bring an opportunity to be an unencumbered change agent

Photo: AP/Nati Harnik

There is not a politician alive (or recently deceased) who has not believed, upon agreeing to run for office, that she or he could make a difference. In spite of the cynicism of some who think that candidates have various greedy, nefarious motivations, the cost is too great, the energy required is too massive, and the pressure is too unrelenting. Without political idealism a potential candidate is too raw to be successful in getting to the first level of competition for a position.

I know personally of what I speak! Once, on a local level, I was successful in being elected only to discover that the obligations of holding a public office were too great, conflicting with the expectations of my profession. It became necessary for me to resign the elected position before the end of my term.

Another time I ran for a high risk state-wide position against a two-term Republican incumbent with deep pockets in a primarily-Republican district. I lost the election, but not without achieving a huge success in gaining cross-over votes. The margin of votes was less than 10%.

In both cases the learning curve was huge, and the disillusion I experienced was massive...more in the state-wide race than the local one. My political idealism was raging; my reality check was too late in arriving in the mail.

Political parties are in the business (and it is a business) of getting candidates elected. From the beginning, the party machine extracts promises and defines boundaries. In return for party support ($) there are expectations which are established. With raging idealism it seems as if a candidate can walk the thin line between accepting necessary support and being true to one's goals and aspirations. First Mistake! The people at the party level are professionals who have dealt with novices before...many times. They know what the potential candidate is thinking, and they know that it's only a matter of time before the candidate will cave.

The power of money in today's political scene is obscene. My race in a fairly low-profile state district cost over $250,000 and it would have been much more if we hadn't gone our separate ways at the last minute. I worked my tail off to raise a good chunk of money, but the party money effectively financed my campaign.

That meant that the party expected its own philosophy and rules to prevail. No agreement...no check in the mail. Much of what the party did for me was good and provided me with materials and opportunities I would not have experienced on my own. But there was a constant awareness of the cost of those support gifts, and it became clear that the cost was more than I was willing to expend. I became rebellious on small things, and the party became less than enthusiastic with my campaign, eventually pulling further financial support. A couple of mis-steps along the way on my part didn't help.

I think about this scenario when I watch what is happening to President Obama. He is filled with the kind of idealism a nation craves. Clearly, he is someone who has the ability to bring about great change. But to get there, there are all kinds of people out there expecting him to jump through their hoops. The power of lobbies is far greater than the public perception.

In spite of his popularity among the voting public he requires political support...and came into this presidency expecting some of that support to come from people on the other side of the aisle who share some of his idealism. The cost of following his idealism has turned out to be too great for some members of his own party who face mid-term elections later this year. And a concerted effort to destroy the potential of his re-election in 2012 has brought about a vicious campaign to discredit him by the Republican Party. Political reality has set in. Unexpected twists, like the death of Ted Kennedy, have cost him dearly.

My own idealism is still rampant with regard to President Obama. I still believe that the American people want to see his agenda achieved. But I am not so politically naive as to think that he can achieve it without the strong support of his own party. I don't see that concerted support out there. The secret for President Obama is to draw a line in the sand as to how far he is willing to concede his idealism without losing it altogether.