Outside the Bubble

[Editor's Note]Before getting down to business, I apologize for not posting at the end of last week. I was in Washington, D.C. for a conference and did not have a laptop (nor the time) to post. Those of you who read on a regular basis know that the VoterVault is a five-day-per-week operation, so next time I something like that goes down I'll line up some guest posts.[End Editor's Note]


The last five days I had the privilege of visiting our nation's capital. It is an amazing place that at once inspires awe, wonder, and cynicism. The things I saw and learned there will inform my analysis of politics for a long time.

One of the things I learned happened before I even arrived at my hotel: we all live in a bubble. Some of our bubbles are very big, and some are very small, but we are nonetheless in our own sphere. There is something awakening about being thrust outside of one's own bubble. It is invigorating to be brought face-to-face with people and places outside your world.

Two people I met taught me this.

The first person was a young woman on the plane. She boarded at the last second with her four small children. Somehow she was navigating kids aged 7, 5, 3, and an infant across the country by herself, and her children all were very well behaved. By the time we were halfway through the flight she had impressed me very much. She noticed the book that I was reading about politics; that got us talking. Without saying so specifically, it was clear that she used to identify herself as a conservative, but has been turned off by, as she put it, "the money in politics". Reading between the lines, she was tired of scandal. Seeing as how she lives in Virginia, she no doubt was one of those who delivered the Senate to the Democrats.

She did not seem angry or frustrated, just tired of the way things work in Washington. That's something the President campaigned on way back in 2000--he was an outsider. He was going to restore dignity in Washington. Despite the fact that this was an impossible mission from the start, this much is clear: for the GOP to retake the government will mean recapturing the high road and working for the people. It will mean not just talking values, but showing values, from the party leadership on down, and from the grassroots up to the top. Maybe then we can get back the vote of that stay-at-home mother of four.

The second person I met was a Lt. Colonel stationed at the Pentagon. When traveling (which is rarely) I like to shake the hand of every military officer I see and thank them for serving our country. After shaking his hand in the security line, little did I know that he and I would be on the same flight. We got to talking about the War on Terror, Iraq, and the President.

The Lt. Colonel served on the ground in the First Gulf War. He expressed great support for the President and the War, but wished we had taken out Saddam back in 1991. The thing that struck me more than anything else, though, was his fear for the War going forward. He's not concerned about increasing sectarian violence. He's not worried about al-Maliki's ability to govern. He's not even worried about rising or falling troop levels.

What's he worried about? The politicians.

In this War we are at a crossroads. What he is concerned about is politicians making decisions that will effect the future of the world. As they make these decisions, some of them care more about making decisions that will help them (or their party) win than about doing what is best and right.

It is not my point today to get into the minutiae of thier points. Instead, my point is that it is good to have dialogue. It is good to ask people about their views. It is good to hear the perspective of different people. We need to have an open, intelligent discussion about where we are going as a country.

After talking politics for ten minutes the mom with four kids asked me which side of the aisle I was on. For the first time in my life when not in front of students I refused to answer. I told her, "I'm concerned with the direction of the country, and I think we can have an open discussion about what is best for America without dividing into competing camps." She agreed.

As a partisan, I am firmly convinced that our answers to the pressing questions facing the country are better than theirs. Those arguments will stand or fall on their own merit when we make the discussion about ideas, not party or personality.

It's good to get out of our bubbles. It's great to talk to the people we meet there. It's best to do it in a constructive way. May we do just that.