Exuberant Campaigning, Sober Governing.

Tomorrow is the day of “New Year’s resolutions.”  Each of us will take a moment to commit ourselves to one thing that might make us a better person. The day after tomorrow is when we are confronted with the more difficult reality of keeping that resolution.  It’s not that much different than a presidential election. During the campaign, candidates make promises but after the inauguration, the winner is overwhelmed by the prospect of keeping any of them.

Let’s face it. It is easy to campaign. Wander the country making promises, offer  money, and do one’s best to keep your skeletons in the closet and your foot out of your mouth. But the exuberance of campaigning must give way to the sober reality of governing. It is easy to be an ideological purist on the campaign trail. But governing requires leaders to mesh ideology with practicality. “Bring the troops home now” may make a good rallying cry at a convention, but as a public policy, it brings with it a destabilized Middle East, potential ethnic cleansing, and a turbulent oil market.  “Health care is a right for all” as a slogan gives voters a warm-fuzzy feeling that garners votes. Paying for it brings a heartburn that crushes small businesses, bureaucratizes medical care, and bleeds away individual choice.

President-Elect Obama’s cabinet appointments illustrate he has learned these hard lessons before serving a day in office.  His pre-inauguration selections have surprised everyone. On the security front he reappointed President Bush’s Robert Gates to stay on as Secretary of Defense. Former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, James Jones was named as National Security Advisor. Jones is a surprising pick for two reasons—he is a long-time Republican and a strong supporter of the “surge” in Iraq. Candidate Obama opposed the surge and called for an immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq, but if his foreign policy appointments are any indication, the poetry of campaigning seems to be giving way to the prose of governing.

Obama’s economic appointments have also steered his administration to the right. Despite running on the Marxian rhetoric of “spreading the wealth around” his economic appointments could have been made by the Dean at the Chicago School of Economics. Lawrence Summers, an open supporter of Milton Friedmanesque monetary policy will chair the National Economic Council. Paul Volker, the Federal Reserve Chairman during Ronald Reagan’s presidency, will lead the Economic Recovery Advisory Board. And remember all that talk about increasing taxes on the rich we heard during the campaign? In November, Obama announced his stimulus package would not include any tax increases, including people who make over $250,000.

Americans think there is a huge chasm between The Left and The Right. In our rhetoric, there often is. But we forget that rhetoric is not governance. President Bush, that “far-right” Republican brought us a government run prescription drug plan for seniors, federal intrusion into education, AIDS relief for Africa, and government bailouts. It was a far cry from his speeches and Republicans were outraged. Now liberals will get their dose of disillusionment. Obama will face the same Islamic fundamentalism and the same economic reality that President Bush did. We should not be surprised then, when President Obama uses some of the same policies and tools that were used by Bush.  Our solutions are often dictated to us by the problems we face, not the ideology we hold. In that truth, Republicans should have been more forgiving of Bush and Democrats better be more understanding of Obama. Otherwise, “Change we can believe in” will turn to “Betrayal we can whine about.”