While we're all wailing and gnashing our teeth over what is almost certainly one of the worst weeks in Democratic history, I want to talk a bit about one of the things that make me wail and gnash my teeth on a near daily basis.
You see it all the time. An active conversation is going about how we and/or our elected representatives can make a positive change for our country. Then, some Debbie Downer has to come in and say:
We don't have the votes.
No shit, Sherlock. We don't have the votes right now because we haven't done anything to change them.
And yet, "We don't have the votes" is a perfect example of what we expect from our elected representatives. We ask them how they are going to vote, we hold them accountable based on the way that they vote, and then we stop. As if their job is done.
With my apologies to Bill Maher, we need to change our expectations of our representatives.
New Rule: Congressmen must do more than just vote.
We must expect our representatives to do more than just register their "Yea" or "Nay." That just might be the most important part of their job, but it should be the last step in a very long series of steps in preparation for that vote.
But rather than just say what those steps are, I'm going to phrase it from the standpoint of citizen action. That means us. Here is what the congressmen (and women) should do, and here are the questions that we should be asking them.
Often, we will call our representatives before a vote and ask this key question:
Question 1: How will you vote on this bill?
Once we receive an answer from their staffer, we will either heap praise or scorn upon our representative, and then some of us (myself included) will hang up.
No more.
New Rule: Congressmen must actually represent their constituents.
Even when I agree with a politician, I go insane when I hear them start a defense of their position by saying "I believe..." Shut up. I don't particularly care about your personal beliefs. I know that many here on this blog do, and spend a lot of time asking sitting representatives about their beliefs. That may be appropriate during campaigns, but I go entirely berserk when they spend all their time talking about themselves and none of their time talking about how they're - you know - actually representing their constituents.
Why? Because each Representative, on average, represents 640,000 people. That makes each Representative's "personal beliefs" worth 0.00015625% of their total constituency. Even better, a Senator's "personal beliefs" are worth, on average, 0.0000355335% of their total constituency.
I hope some of you are seeing my point. Although some don't like it, the job of our elected representatives is to represent their constituencies. It's even in some of their titles: Representative. Every time a Representative speaks to the media, they should not be saying "I believe..." They should be saying, affirmatively: "The people of my district/state demand..." Because, at the end of the day, it's not about them. It's about us. They speak for their district or state. Not themselves. In short - they represent.
We must change the way our elected representatives in Washington view their roles as servants of the country. Therefore, we should immediately follow up our initial question (how are you voting?) with a critical follow-up question:
Question 2: Does your district/state agree with your vote?
Eliminate their personal beliefs completely. Focus on what's important: their constituents. You.
The answer to this question, from every elected representative (Democrat or Republican), should always be the same and should come at the speed of light. There is only one appropriate answer:
Yes.
But how do they know? Many Representatives/Senators these days appear to be stuck in the Beltway Bubble, without a clue of what their citizens back home think. Very few seem to actually do outreach. I've never received any kind of communication from my (Democratic) Representative. That should infuriate all of us.
New Rule: Congressmen must support their assertions with data.
Don't just take your representative's word for it. Ask.
Question 3: What research have you done that suggests your district/state agrees?
Your representative (or their staffer) should immediately respond with some kind of data. "We have received more calls in support of this position than against it." "Polls in my district/state suggest that I should vote this way." Someday, I hope that answer is consistently, "I reached out to a large number of random voters in my district/state, and the result was this."
(By the way, "Jesus told me so" is not a valid answer. Unless one of their constituents is Jesus.)
If enough of us change our expectations, and ask these key follow-up questions, then I believe that the people in Washington will start getting the point. Now, they tend to get a lot of calls asking them for their position. In the future, I hope the pressure is more along the lines of: "What are you doing to accurately represent your district (you know, your primary job as a representative)?"
But of course, that's not enough, as we've learned this week. It's not enough to simply register your vote, act with righteous indignation when you lose, and then move on to the next cocktail party. I'm reminded of Representative Slaughter's statement yesterday:
There is one way to stop this war, and that is to force Republicans to stop ignoring their own constituents. 70 percent of the public wants a change of course in Iraq, but not enough voters in Republican districts are willing to force their Representatives and Senators to vote that way.
She's only half right. Firstly, we apparently also need to force Democrats to stop ignoring their own constituents. Secondly, it was completely inappropriate for Representative Slaughter to put the responsibility solely on us voters. We don't get paid to do that kind of thing. However, we do send people to Washington to convince others to vote the right way. We pay them too. No, they're not lobbyists - they're Representatives and Senators. Although, oddly enough, it seems like lobbyists are doing a much better job these days of getting congressional votes than the Representatives and Senators themselves.
New Rule: Congressmen must also convince others to vote with them.
Seriously. One vote in the Senate, and particularly in the House of Representatives, has very little impact at the end of the day. We saw that yesterday. The way to get the people's work done is to roll up your sleeves and get other people to pass your laws. Too many Senators and Representatives call in their vote and then lament about their colleagues' poor decisions - as if they were completely powerless to influence them. Why are we paying these people, again?
We need to remind our elected representatives that their job involves more than just voting, and even more than just representing. It involves getting the people's work done. Therefore, we should always ask them this question:
Question 4: What are you doing to ensure that this bill is successfully passed/defeated?
Normally, this is a question that we would ask the Speaker, the Majority Leaders, the Majority Whips. And, yes, they are the ones primarily responsible for getting everybody in line. But, clearly, they could be doing a better job.
Therefore, we should be expect more from our elected representatives. Even when we agree with their votes, we should expect them to successfully pass or block legislation. When you call your people in Congress, they should tell you how many of their colleagues they have talked to about "H.R. 1776" or whatever bill is on the table. They might also need to convince their colleagues' district/state to share their views. Because everybody's job is to accurately represent their constituents, remember? Republicans do it all the time - they blitz the media and then people throughout the country become convinced (fooled) that they are right. More of that from the Democrats, please. If you can't change the votes from within chambers, then go out to the media and change the votes that way.
No more, "Our hands were tied," "The media hates us," "The President is holding our troops hostage." Pathetic excuses. Excuses do not improve anybody's quality of life. Excuses do not deliver justice. Excuses do not defend our country. Excuses do not save lives.
We must make it clear that being an elected representative is a privilege and a huge responsibility. It's "hard work." We can do that by asking the right questions:
Question 1: How will you vote on this bill?
Question 2: Does your district/state agree with your vote?
Question 3: What research have you done that suggests your district/state agrees?
Question 4: What are you doing to ensure that this bill is successfully passed/defeated?
These are all very basic questions. To some people, they're almost as basic as these:
New Rule: Congressmen must do more than just vote.
New Rule: Congressmen must actually represent their constituents.
New Rule: Congressmen must support their assertions with data.
New Rule: Congressmen must also convince others to vote with them.
Because these rules aren't "new" at all. They've been around since the beginning of our democracy. It's just that they, like the Constitution, have been ignored for the past decade. Who needs to change that?
Us.
So the next time somebody attempts to end a productive discussion with...
We don't have the votes.
...thank them for their contribution to the discussion, and then let them know that we're working to get the votes. Ask them whether they want to help. How to convince them to help? Well, that's another diary.