CARLTON FLETCHER: Chewed up, swallowed, spit out by politics

Kids want a savior, don’t need a fake, I wanna be elected.

— Alice Cooper

Isn’t it interesting how politicians become all interested in you, the constituent, when election time rolls around?

Don’t get me wrong, I get that local elected leaders are out and about in the community at all times, state legislators are most visible during the 40 days of the legislative session, and national officials make a few token returns “home” to express their concerns when it’s beneficial to them.

But there seems to be a genuine disconnect between the promises politicians make and the reality of what being in their respective offices entails. Constituents want to know how candidates will address issues that impact them directly, and the candidates are obliged to respond. So they say what they think the constituents want to here.

Then, when they get in office, they realize that it’s not as simple as they thought it would be. That you can’t do all those things you told the people who voted for you that you’d do if they voted for you. And that’s not easily explained away.

“I really did plan to end taxes that anyone past the age of 50 has to pay when I got in office, but I found out that if I did that, we’d have to quit collecting garbage,” Representative A says. And then, he digs the hole he’s in a little deeper. “But I am working with my colleagues right now to come up with a plan that will allow people over 50 who are at least one-eighth Inuit to get a special, one-time 3 percent abatement on any structure they build on property they own — sorry, no renters — that was once settled by Inuit ancestors.”

To which the constituent replies: “Huh?”

Government, it seems, has turned into quite the process. It now revolves around backroom deals — “You vote for mine, I’ll vote for yours” — sadly, partisan politics — “Yeah, I know that would be good for everybody, but it was brought to us by a Democrat, can’t vote for it” — and, do I even need to say it, money — “Look, I know you’re a little queasy about the destructive capability of this nuclear-powered crossbow, but what’s in this envelope will explain a little better why this is a good thing.”

Frankly, those of us who are still naive enough to think that we’re sending any Mr. Smiths up to Washington anymore need to adjust our worldview. Maybe, while it’s sad to say, we even need to lower our expectations. If we did that, perhaps the people who are running for various elected offices wouldn’t feel so compelled to make promises they can’t keep.

And maybe they wouldn’t have to use the not-quite-lie as their go-to move when talking to potential voters. You know what I mean, the “I’ve brought millions of dollars to our community since I’ve been in (Albany, Atlanta, Washington),” when in fact the money, programs and pork actually came as part of a deal made with someone who happens to live in the district who has “friends in high places” and in reality passed in spite of the elected official, not because of him or her.

It’s kind of sad and really quite amazing that this thing, this government thing, that was dreamed up to be of, by and for the people has turned into such a high-stakes, high-dollar monster. Unfortunately, the people we make a part of it with our votes end up chewed up, swallowed and spit out by it or they buy into the “it’s the way we get things done” ethos and just get in line for those envelopes that manage to move mountains.

I spend an inordinate amount of time wondering these days what Thomas Jefferson and the other framers of our republic would think of this thing they wrought.

Send comments to Carlton Fletcher at [email protected] and follow on Twitter @ABH_Fletcher.