The politics of discontent

A recent New York Times poll reveals that only 38 percent of the American people view the Republican Party favorably while 56 percent view it unfavorably with the remainder undecided, while 52 percent view the Democratic Party favorably, 41 percent unfavorably, and the remainder undecided. A CNN poll reports similar findings: 36 percent view the Republican Party favorably, 53 percent unfavorably, the remainder undecided with 51 percent viewing the Democratic Party favorably, 38 percent unfavorably, and the remainder undecided.

The most recent Rasmussen poll, released less than a week ago, discovered that, for the first time in many years, the Democrats lead the Republicans in all 10 key issues most important to voters, even national security. These issues break out like this, from the smallest margin to the largest margin:

Ethics and

These numbers represent a sea change in the attitudes of Americans towards the two political parties and the overriding question, of course, is why has this happened? Most people point to the war in Iraq and, even though it appears to be the catalyst that influences everything else, like the Vietnam War was in the '60s and early '70s, the Rasmussen Poll clearly points out it's not the only thing by a long shot.

I think the most telling issue from the above list is Ethics and Corruption, an issue that people trust the Democrats on more than any other, except for health care.

The reason for this is neither clouded nor hidden. George Bush and Dick Cheney ran as the Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates on the Republican Party ticket in 2000 using a particular campaign slogan that not only fueled their campaign but eventually resulted in their election and that slogan was "to return honor and dignity to the government"; a not-too-subtle reference to the sexual peccadilloes of former President Clinton.

Unfortunately, for the American people, that didn't happen. The scandals, embarrassments, and bad judgments of this administration are historic in both scope and precedent. The Valerie Plume Affair, Karl Rove, Scooter Libby, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Michael Brown, Paul O'Neil, Paul Wolfowitz, and Mark Foley are only a few of the names of prominent Republicans who have violated the trust of the people they serve.

And what happens when that trust is violated? We respond at an institutional level the same way we respond at a personal level. We distance ourselves from the people who made the promises they didn't keep and look for others we hope we can trust. That's exactly what the results of the Rasmussen Poll indicate. The Republicans didn't do what they said they were going to do so maybe we'll give the other side a chance. Who knows if the Democrats will do it any better, especially in all ten issue areas identified in that poll? Maybe they will, maybe they won't. But the important issue here is the desire to not reward someone for violating our trust, just like we do with our friends and our acquaintances.

None of us like to be lied to. None of us like to be told one thing by a person and then they do something else. None of us like to be taken advantage of by others. When these things happen, they bring the very nature of our friendship into question and when they happen regularly, they destroy most friendships. When trust is violated, nothing else remains.

I've always believed we do the same thing with our leaders. A political campaign is nothing more than a series of promises that candidates make to the people. If you will elect me, this is what I'll do. If they, in fact, do those things, then we are happy and content with them and our decision to support them. If they don't, we look for someone else. All human relationships are built and maintained by trust. We never know what's really going on in the minds of other people so the only proof we have is what they do. If their actions support their words, we trust them and believe them. If not, we don't.

And we keep looking until we find someone who says what they mean and then does what they say.