[Mb-civic] NYTimes.com Article: Editorial: Waiting for a President

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Editorial: Waiting for a President

November 3, 2004
 


 

The American people know what to do in these situations: a
painfully close division in the Electoral College, and at
least one large state with a big pile of disputed ballots.
We wait for the best possible count, ready to accept
whoever wins by the rules of the game as the next chief
executive. 

When a victor is finally, officially announced, it is
important for the entire country to accept him as the
rightful president. We have had enough of rancor for a
while, and our greatest hope now is that the next president
will earn the right to be seen as leader by all the nation.
It was inspiring yesterday morning to see the lines of
voters at the polls around the nation, but the mood was
worrisome. Party loyalty was not the overarching emotion
this year. Neither was enthusiasm for either of the
candidates. The main emotion seemed to be contempt for the
other side. 

The country has been battered by war, fear of terrorism and
economic uncertainty - all of which seem to have
intensified the longstanding distrust between the more
secular, urban regions and the religious, rural areas.
Three years ago, the trauma of Sept. 11 brought us
together. But as we have noted again and again, President
Bush failed to come up with a national agenda that would
make that moment of strong national purpose permanent. The
knee-jerk partisanship that replaced it has been made worse
by the narrow division between Republicans and Democrats,
which makes everyone in Washington feel compelled to jockey
for the slightest partisan advantage. 

If he is going to succeed at achieving anything of
substance, the next president will have to help the nation
reach some new place where elected officials expect that
rewards can be won from cooperation and mutual respect.
Right now, we are in the peculiar position of suffering
political paralysis, despite the fact that there is a clear
consensus on most questions of policy. 

Any pollster, and any reasonable politician, can tell you
what most Americans want, particularly when it comes to a
domestic agenda. Pick the moderate position on almost any
issue - Social Security, gay rights, taxes - and you will
find the public right behind you. But lawmakers can't lead
themselves into a bipartisan consensus. Only a president
can create a new mood, and he can do it only by sacrificing
his own short-term political advantage on occasion for the
common good. 

The next chief executive will also have to reckon with the
failure of both parties this year to prepare the American
people for bad news or common sacrifice. For all their
disagreements about the war, both George Bush and John
Kerry assured the public that Iraq can be stabilized and
moved toward a semblance of democratic government, and that
American troops will stay until that happens. That job will
be tougher, bloodier and more expensive than either
candidate has been willing to admit. 

Neither man has actually suggested that any voters (other
than Mr. Kerry's Very Wealthy) will have to sacrifice
anything to underwrite the cost of staying in Iraq
indefinitely. And neither man has come close to preparing
Americans for the possibility that the next president may
have to admit that fixing the mess in Iraq has become not
merely a question of what Americans can accomplish, but a
losing game in which the United States is doing its global
interests more harm than good. 

And neither Mr. Bush nor Mr. Kerry has been forthright
about the challenges of a world where American workers are
going to have to be very adaptable, and American children
much better educated, to compete with the ambitious and
energetic next generation in places like China and India.
Neither has done a particularly convincing job of
explaining how Americans can expect to continue getting all
the government services they have reason to expect, while
the government still finds money for new challenges like
homeland security. 

The new president, in truth, faces a nearly impossible job,
and it is a tribute to the optimism of the human spirit
that at the beginning of this year, so many people were
vying to take on this task. 

We entered this election season discouraged, as usual, by
the caliber of the candidates running for president. As
time went on, we were forced to admit - perhaps a little
grudgingly - that Mr. Bush and Mr. Kerry shared the steely
discipline and self-possession that are critical
requirements for the most difficult job on the planet. 

As the votes were slowly counted last night, we hoped for
clarity and fairness in the ultimate result. But most of
all, we hoped that the ultimate winner would balance his
enormous self-confidence with a large dose of humility.
That could mark the beginning of a White House for all the
people. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/03/opinion/03wed1.html?ex=1100502733&ei=1&en=29bf9dc938f4eafb


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