What campaigns should really be about
The Senate has left the building. The House left a while ago for their traditional August recess.
They’ll all be back in September but won’t stay long. After some drama, they will keep the government open (until December — more drama) but members will be anxious to start campaigning.
On the House side, this exercise in democracy will be largely performative as only a few dozen races of 435 will actually be competitive given our gerrymandered and polarized political landscape — unless there is a true political tsunami. But yes, some of the Senate races will be fascinating.
Much of the news cycle will be given up to these horse races. There will still be coverage of Iran, Ukraine, Gaza, another ICE killing, and — what? — Cuba (October surprise!), but there will be a profound deluge of electrons and airtime devoted to handicapping races.
This has always struck me as largely a waste. Wouldn’t it be more useful to concentrate on why we are sending these folks to Washington? What do they “promise” to do?
The 119th Congress, like its predecessor, has been singularly unproductive. And there are reasons — narrow margins, partisan gridlock, fractious caucuses, long shutdowns — but the primary reason is that the president does not have a legislative agenda.
Other than the One Big Beautiful Bill, the president has largely chosen to govern by executive order (and been sued 750 times as a result). In their book Regime Change, Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan write about House Speaker Mike Johnson:
“Power has flowed out of the Speaker’s office directly to the Oval Office. In a reflection of just how subservient Johnson was to Trump, congressional reporters would refer to ‘Speaker Donald Trump’.”
Other than the SAVE Act — a voting bill that has the potential to disenfranchise millions of voters (hence the lack of support in the Senate) — the president has paid scant attention to legislative matters, unless he was trying to stop something, like the Epstein transparency bill or the Russia sanctions act.
Affordability will be top of mind among the electorate and politicians will pledge to lower prices but fail to point to the asterisk that explains their limited ability to do so. Take groceries, a low-margin business. It is a complex stew of variables. How do we increase cattle herds, avoid bird flu outbreaks, or reduce climate change impacts that hike prices? Good questions all.
How about pursuing noninflationary policies — removing tariffs, finding a politically sustainable way to end the Iran war, and reigning in deficit spending? Congress could help do all that.
Even the just-passed bipartisan housing bill (21st Century ROAD to Housing Act) that seeks to increase housing supply through a variety of reforms became law without the president’s signature. Noninflationary policies could lower interest rates.
Like the housing bill, there are little bipartisan efforts here and there that would help Americans. For example, “The More Paid Leave for More Americans Act,” would provide incentives to help states offer six weeks of partially paid leave. Don’t expect it to pass.
A 1993 federal law mandates up to 12-weeks of unpaid leave for family and health issues, but unpaid is unpaid. Fourteen states have some sort of paid leave, but not Illinois.
This is a double-edged problem. Those who seek our vote are obligated to tell us their principles, their priorities, and give examples of their ability to get things done. Journalists have the obligation to resist the horse race story, move past the bumper sticker, avoid useless, misleading labels (socialist!), and bore the voter to death with actual discussions of policy. We’ll all be better for it.
Give us a reason to send you to Congress other than the R or D.
• Keith Peterson, of Lake Barrington, served 29 years as a press and cultural officer for the United States Information Agency and Department of State. He was chief editorial writer of the Daily Herald 1984-86. His book “American Dreams: The Story of the Cyprus Fulbright Commission” is available from Amazon.com.