January 28, 2010
It's currently in vogue among conservatives to argue that health care reform should not pass because it is unpopular. The argument sounds like this: "Public support for Obama's plan has dipped to just 36 percent. Nevertheless, Democratic legislators bull ahead, ignoring the will of the people in a mad dash to plant their ideological flag on the hill of political ambition, no matter how many Congressional bodies it costs."
I could attribute this basic idea to any of a dozen of my fellow conservative authors, and now, with the stunning election of Scott Brown, the pleading has turned to shouting: "How dare you turn a deaf ear to the clear, express sentiment of the electorate! Will you so flagrantly disregard the people you're supposed to represent?"
As you may already have surmised, I am not impressed by these lines of argument. In fact, I'm writing this column because their use disturbs me so greatly. To put the point bluntly, conservatives who denounce the Democratic leadership in this way have either forgotten what we believe or else are willing to sacrifice what we believe on our own altar of political persuasion.
Make no mistake, this particular appeal to the "will of the people" works with an audience. If it didn't work, no one would use it. But effectiveness alone is not enough. The strength of our political position is that our arguments flow from a clear and consistent set of principles. Unless our party is very badly named, we don't believe in direct democracy. We believe in a republic. In a democracy, the people decide what policies are followed, whereas in a republic, the people elect leaders who decide what policies are followed. This is far more than a trifling difference.
The question is simple: Are our leaders obligated to do what the majority wants, or are they obligated to do what seems right to them? Although an ideal world would allow both outcomes, that world and ours don't always coincide. In the present case, we have an overwhelming Democrat majority in Washington pushing an overwhelmingly unpopular health reform plan. And so what?
Although many journalists may shudder to acknowledge the fact, political authority in this country does not flow from opinion polls, even reliable ones. Zogby, Rasmussen, Pew, Harris and Gallup all combined have zero constitutional authority. Even if it could be reliably known that 85 percent of all voters opposed some proposal, it would mean precisely nothing in terms of the authority to abandon that proposal at this moment. The only opinions that count are those of the 535 members of Congress and the president.
That being said, there is one poll that matters. It's very rigorously conducted and involves 100 percent sampling with no statistical projections whatsoever. All adult citizens without felony convictions are allowed to participate—and we conduct it every two years. It's called an election, and the winners get to make the decisions for the next two, four, or six years. Once those offices are granted, there is simply no constitutional authority to impeach for the offense of unpopularity—as un-Californian as that may be.
Now don't misunderstand me. I like the idea of legislators listening to their constituents. But that's because I want them to be aware of all the viewpoints on a particular proposal and its impact on the people they serve. However, there is a gulf of difference between listening to the people and being led by them. I want Congressmen to think deeply and then do what they believe is best, even if it's unpopular. Even if they disagree with me. The word for that is leadership.
In contrast, I suppose a congressman could simply count the number of in-district calls he gets on a particular issue and then vote according to that tally. Another approach might be to see what actual polling data in his district indicates. As idiotic as both these suggestions are, notice that they at least restrict the sample taken to the particular district. A USA Today poll of 1500 random Americans should be of no consequence whatsoever since no member of Congress represents that district. But in any of these approaches, we still have the same basic flaw: political opportunism, which is simply a euphemism for cowardice.
