Candidates seeking high office, especially those who are novices unfamiliar with the basics of American government, often perceive political careers as glamorous. After the election, however, these candidates confront a cold reality -- governing and legislating is difficult, tiresome, and often pretty dull.
Associated Press
How politicians adapt to this rude awakening determine whether they'll be successful. Sen. Ron Johnson (R) of Wisconsin, for example, appears to have made a poor career choice by entering politics in the first place.
Running as a novice in 2010, Johnson frequently struggled to offer any depth on any subject, declaring shortly before the election, "I don't believe this election really is about details." In one especially jarring example, Johnson chatted with the Green Bay Press Gazette's editorial board, which pressed the Republican on economic policy. Johnson talked about "cutting spending," and "getting the economy moving," but simply couldn't answer any questions with any substance at all. It was painful to watch.
Two years later, Roll Call reports that Johnson is poised to "purge nearly his entire Washington, D.C.-based legislative team," in large part because they expect the senator to work on legislation -- and he doesn't want to.
"He's an interesting case study of someone who has talked more than he has listened, lectured more than he has developed relationships with his colleagues, and now he's having a tough time because of that behavior in advancing his policy goals," one senior GOP aide said. "It's kind of like watching a temper tantrum by a 2-year-old in the middle of the grocery store." [...]
Sources indicated that when Johnson came to Washington, he put a staff together like "any other Senator" but quickly realized that the day-to-day grind of legislating was not his forte. Johnson said last week that he wanted more of his office's focus to be on building an effective messaging operation.
Yes, Johnson, like all freshmen, was supposed to do the grunt work of learning how to become a real senator, but according to Republicans on the Hill, he's decided it's more fun to give speeches and come up with soundbites.
"Messaging" is fun; governing is hard.
This seems entirely too common in contemporary Republican politics -- the challenging work of crafting legislation, assembling coalitions, trudging through the committee process, making concessions, and agreeing to compromises requires a real commitment, and for those who just want to appear on Fox News, parade around CPAC with an entourage, and feel important, there appears to be no desire to actually legislate.
Congress is suffering through a tough time right now, and has several institutional problems. But it might function better if it had more grown-ups.
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Messaging" "Ruling" is fun; governing is hard.Ugh, and this is the man that defeated Russ Feingold. As a resident of WI, I am not impressed.
The tragedy is few people will notice if he does nothing. As long as he creates a staff that acts as the functional equivalent of a personal advertising agency dedicated to the One Job of promoting his Brand at home.
Seen this type of politician many times.
You see voters say JOBS are a priority , one would imagine they would notice a pin head like this doing nothing about jobs , while having trouble with the basics of being a representative of his state ....Yet another example of how self centered these people are , they are not ideal candidates to represent OTHER PEOPLE , he has a full term to serve unfortunately, for Ws. , and it will teach everyone a lesson at least
The job promotion by the GOP was never the intention and I do believe the base may have also known that, all they heard was let's get rid of President Obama., You have to at least dress the part. Now all we have to do is follow the money trail, What companies again were donating to Romney? I wonder what contributions these companies have made to the poor? I bet Romney got a bigger piece of that pie.
I cannot help but compare him to another "freshman senator'; one from New York.
Who is now arguably the Most Powerful Woman in the World. (with a nod to Angela Merkel. . .)
You can TRY to compare him to Hillary, but about the only things they have in common would be they are both human beings and they were both elected to office. Hillary DID her job, and did quite well, thank you very much. This guy is completely worthless as a Senator, and apparently isn't much of a man either...
Day: Where does your "comparison" come from, please? Hillary impressed even some Republican colleagues, who expected her to be of the sort you insinuate she was. Several of them (Hatch and Brownback among them) said they were initially surprised at her efforts make personal contact with them, and later, impressed with her work ethic.
What "challenging work of crafting legislation"? Just get ALEC to write it for you. /snark
I am trying to come up with the name of even one Republican that could be considered a statesman at this point (rather than just a politician). So far, no luck.
I can think several- Abe Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt; oh, the list goes on and on. (or maybe, not. . .)
The current Republican party bears no resemblance to the party of Lincoln or Roosevelt. Even just 20 years ago, I may have been a Republican (I was too youg to vote then, so I can't be absolutely certain) but in the present there is no possible way. I consider myself very much a moderate, so on occasion I agree with Republicans still on some things, but so much of the current Republican ideology is so radically and extremely right-wing that it makes it impossible to support them.
I think it ended with Nixon.
It did ... OSHA , EPA, Endangered species...you know , stuff that actually improved peoples lives instead of enriching corporate donors
I can't decide whether or not it's ironic that Republican sanity ended with Nixon.
Yet, he'll probably be reelected.
As a Wisconsinite, I can tell you there's a better chance of hell freezing over. After Scott Walker, the political climate is vastly different than it was when Johnson was elected, and it will not soon revert.
Cora, Are you Wisconsin Dems willing and able to shine a light on him every day for the next 4 years? If not, he has a shot at reelection. What a waste of a Senate seat.
See my earlier post - I'm not a Dem - I'm very much an independant - but Ron Johnson is nothing but a rich man who bought far too much ad time during the height of the Tea Party frenzy. He lacks the ability to lead, and tea time is over in Wisconsin, so he is not likely to skate by in a future election. That is, if he even runs for re-election...
That's what happens when people elect a candidate who couldn't give people any specifics about his plans.
Johnson was on Morning Joe the other week with Zeke Emanuel. What was apparent after about 27 seconds was that on the topic of health care and the ACA, Dr. Emanuel knows a lot and Sen. Johnson had memorized a few abrasive talking points but few actual facts to substantiate them.
One can only hope that after this term, Sen. Johnson goes back to manufacturing plastic and the good people of WI get a better Senator.
That's why I was wondering if West even knows what Communism means?
you really expect places like oklahoma (inhofe) or kentucky (paul) to serve up their share of nincompoops, but wisconsin?
Yes I know. As a single voter who does vote at every opportunity I get very frustrated with the choices made by the apparent majority. I'm hoping the jarring reality of their choice in 2010 has taught all residents of WI a valuable lesson. Pay attention, check the facts, and vote more wisely.
MomfromWI ... Let's hope that Wisconsinites have learned from their mistakes. The rest of us have paid a high price for the state's off-the-track selections in 2010.
Please, please, please, people of Wisconsin. Be more careful next time. Everybody's entitled to ONE mistake (well, maybe two; there's that Walker foul-up). But that's your quota for the time being.
We trust that you'll take care of both problems at the first opportunity.
Yeah we did good for 50 years after our last HUGE mistake (aka Joe McCarthy) before we made another one so there is hope that we are done for a long time again. In between we did send the Senate the likes of Proxmire (how I miss his Golden Fleece Awards), Nelson (we still have Earth Day), and Feingold (who may get back).
As long as the right is happy with him. This "Anyone But a Democrat" political strategy seems to be working really well for conservatives. They're getting exactly what they vote for, a well-messaged Republican of a substance as deep and knowledgeable as that strategy.
Something just seems to be amiss about the whole 2010 Freshman alumni.I beleive a lot of this legislature being adopted in the Republican States is a reflection of this also.We deal with this in the workplace also. There's a lot of chiefs and not enough Indians. Maybe that's why a lot of these old issues are coming up also. That were already resolved a long time ago. They're rehashing them because they don't know what else they're supposed to do. States are going bankrupt. People are relying on these individuals. They're taking their direction from somebody who is just fine I guess with them bringing up past battles that they have already lost. They should have awareness seminars on all of our public officials. This is not dress up and pretend that you're rich now. They need to learn how to govern, maybe that's why they want to to get rid of the government. If a Republican becomes President then they can go back to pretending.
But that's how they legislate-- by not. By striking bills down, by saying no, by "not spending." Mostly because the likes of Fox News tell them that's how to best run a successful nation, so they get to Washington and do exactly as they planned-- play the wrench in legislation.
needless to say, I'm not surprised by the contents in this blog entry.
Who stands to benefit from them not working? I don't understand how the people on Fox News can look at themselves after stabbing their fellow Americans in the back for a buck..
Fox News is part of a multinational company based in London, and financed out of Saudi Arabia, what the hell do they care about America.
Yes, and having just read that the Tennessee GOP controlled Senate has a bill up to advise teenagers against hand-holding as a dangerous preliminary to sex, I begin to see the Saudi influence on our culture.
I think the GOP has gone around claiming to be against Sharia law because their ultimate aim is to institutionalize the values the Saudis have shown us the way on: segregation of the sexes except for procreation, no cross sex rides in cars, no hand-holding except for between men (e.g., GW Bush and the Saudi prince), no public participation by women.
Why else are they making such a war on women? What Americans, real Americans, hold the values the GOP is currently upholding? Maybe some backwards religious extremists, but I can't imagine anyone I ever met in this country who would hold such values.
No Americans. Only the most repressive of Muslim countries, oil rich and spending their money to buy our public officials.
You should know that Johnson ran by crowing about the fact that he was NOT a lawyer like most of the members of Congress. And I thought to myself: that's strange because aren't congress members supposed to MAKE LAWS? And yet this know-nothing, rich-boy Bozo managed to beat the excellent Russ Feingold. We Wisconsinites should be ashamed. (BTW: I voted for Feingold!)
There is a bigger problem here than how stupid Johnson is. A person that is good in the private industry is not necessarily a good legislator. BUT they come to the Senate and/or the House thinking that they WILL be. They also don't want to 'start at the bottom' when they have already been successful in private industry. What they REALLY think is that they should be President. Another problem is the 'game' of politics. The RNC/DNC comb the states looking for someone who might WIN and who has enough money to run. They don't CARE if the person is qualified, has an interest in governing or even WANTS to do it and then they talk them into it. They offer 'incentives' if you will. It's like luring an athlete to your team. 'We'll pay you THIS and you don't have to do ANYTHING but win'. There is no thought about what is good for the country. They are searching for 'name brands'...and that is why we see such MORONS in Congress. The days of having a passion for politics and taking the time to learn your craft are long gone.
Angel#77 said: Who stands to benefit from them not working? I don't understand how the people on Fox News can look at themselves after stabbing their fellow Americans in the back for a buck..
It's that philosophy of "If you aren't rich, it's your own fault." Therefore they have no empathy.
It also has to do with the fact they actually have no knowledge at all about the operation of government, or the economy; if they were "successful" in business it was usually because daddy set them up, (see: Romney, Willard). That we keep getting in knots over people who are as unworthy a bunch of enemies as this bunch of whackadoodles are is amazing. But then look at the whackadoodles who were hanging around with that failed paper-hanger 80 years ago. Whackadoodles can indeed be dangerous, even if in the end they go down.
As to "not working," look at what happened in the German Reichstag 1929-32, as the Nazis gained seats. All efforts were to stymie any progress, to wreck any attempts at solving problems. And then they ran against the Reichstag as a "failure" in 1933.
TCinLA
Has there ever been a congress or party who has celebrated the attempt to destroy the american economy ? all for the hatred of the other party as their enemy? The civil war I guess , no wonder the vibe feels so repulsive in america politics
I get crap from my fellow dems for mentioning such similarities , but there is no denying the psychological similarities and out comes of these people goals and what they believe in
Angel#77
Something just seems to be amiss about the whole 2010 Freshman alumni
They road the anti obama dem wave in , saying what they needed to say , knowing they would do whatever they wanted once in office , the msm do not hold the gop accountable for anything , so they just lie and lie , and when busted , lie about that to
This is why it looks and feels so different imo , along with what you spoke of in your post , we as a society are going to see if the GOP can actually get away with being this delusional , then having people buy it , and vote for it again , bush 101 on steroids
The U S House antics speak for themselves ...They elected a gop governor here in iowa in 2010 , and like every dem new , he is doing the opposite of what he said he would , WHILE STILL COLOR COATING IT AS WHAT HE CAMPAIGNED ON !! :/
One just has to shake their head and wonder how far gop voters are willing to take america over the cliff into fictional ayn rand land
Most of the GOP really doesn't believe in anything -- they're just against everything. I think the best comment was the one relating to power. From Romney to Cantor and everywhere in between, they'll just do/say whatever it takes to retain power and assist their corporate buddies.
I have always considered the people of Wisconsin moderate. Scott Walker and Johnson are aberrations that the voters will correct. These politicians are part of a political party that decided to hijack state politics for the benefit of the wealthy and business. Voters will figure that out. The first test will be Walker and the recalls. If he and the Republicans lose control of the state, it will shake up the Koch Bros, ALEC and other conservative groups. Walker has money and Dems have manpower. This is the same strategy that Obama is using for his reelection. If Republicans cannot buy these recall elections, the national party is going to go into panic mode. They are betting on Superpacs to win the next national elections. If they lose that bet, then Republicans are going to be forced to deal with substantive issues rather than slinging slogans.
I don't see the problem. The Congressional Republicans vote as a block anyway, so there's no need for him to do more than show up for quorum calls and do as he's told. The rest of the time it's all messaging and (more importantly) preparing for his re-election campaign.
You know Mr. Johnson I hear that if all you want to do all day is message there's a great career for you: it's called being a "self-motivation" guru. You get to give seminars, use lots of bells and whistles, give lots of inspirational speeches, and pocket everyone's cash!
Johnson is a special case. It isn't fair to compare him even with the Tparty caucus.