Even distance provides no perspective on the way Washington, D.C. does not work. Certainly the preservation of power and the value of scoring points over making policy is nothing new, but the peremptory challenges to suggestions before they even begin the journey to the floor of Congress has made that powerful process, well, powerless. From the vantage point of the participants, the solution is to claim ever-higher ground and increase the volume on their talking points. A better approach might be to admit the inability to legislate in the short-term and act in ways to get a grip on the only real long-term lever: public opinion.
The announced departure of U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and the speculative search for his successor provides the right kind of opportunity. Rather than focus on the nominee (background, likelihood of Senate approval, soft-skill set, etc.), make the nomination process the thing. Rather than back into an oblique discussion of the mood of the nation with regard to use of the military, the current state of the Military-Industrial Complex, the commitment to veterans, make it front and center. Rather than see a new Secretary of Defense as the goal, focus the effort on reaching public agreement on, or at least awareness of, who we are, where we are, how we got there and what needs to come next.
The value of such insight goes way beyond squeezing someone through the nomination process. It creates a momentary bit of clarity that could lead to meaningful, collaborative action. The idea is at least more than 100 years old in American politics. It was President Teddy Roosevelt who said, “I suppose my critics will call that preaching, but I have got such a bully pulpit!”
In this way, governing can then become less about “rallying the base” and more about reaching everyone else. The numbers make the case clear. When only one-third of those registered to vote make it to the polls in any given year and the total number of registered voters are about two-thirds of those eligible, adding these voices to the public debate can energize and change it.
Leadership has never been as much about the outcome of any decision, whether corporate or legislative. It is about getting the team to buy-in and commit. The normal nomination process for a new Secretary of Defense will not do that. But, by putting the focus on defense and not on the person who might be the secretary, there is a chance to do right by both.
