With Joe Biden finally, officially bowing out of the 2016 presidential race that he was never officially in (much to the semi-contained, private glee of the Hillary Clinton campaign), I’m reminded of a fantastic question I read a few weeks ago: why do good men pause?
Here we are — a country in desperate need of wise, courageous leadership… strong, humble, ethical leadership… leadership marked most not by consensus or agreement, but rather, leadership marked by its unquestionable integrity.
I’ve watched my loyal Democratic friends, wanting in general to support a more progressive policy agenda, but cringing at the thought of an ethically-challenged, candidate Clinton. I’ve also watched my loyal Republican friends, wanting in general to support a more conservative policy agenda, but unsure if they could ever get on board for a President Trump.
And then we see VP Joe Biden and House Rep. Paul Ryan — a Democrat and a Republican — but two men regardless of partisan agreement who are best known for their authenticity and integrity. They are good men. However, Biden bowed out of a potential presidential run… and Ryan is reluctantly willing to run for Speaker of the House only after weeks of prodding and still with conditions. Good men/women are avoiding the higher office. Good men are pausing.
Read the words of Salena Zito, a writer for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s blog. Her insight is excellent… why are good people pausing?
“ ‘One hesitates because of the grief of a family broken by loss, the other because of the commitment to a new family’s bright future,’ [Bruce] Haynes [GOP media expert] said, adding both are good and noble reasons for reluctance.
At the same time, these hesitations, coming from both sides of the aisle, serve as glaring symbols of another problem: Too many good people don’t want to be in politics anymore.
Haynes said that’s because they are turned off by what they see and hear.
The best do not want to put their families through the over-reactive, faux outrage ridiculousness of social media, which too often bleeds into regular media coverage. If you look at someone cross-eyed, it’s going to become a thing.
The zealots – both on the hard right and the hard left – are intent upon destroying anyone for anything that might be considered a slight to their cause. This all-or-nothing online thuggery expects every candidate to agree all of the time – and it’s ruining governing for us all. Governing actually does matter.
Our system no longer bestows distinction upon those who serve. It devours them…
Biden and Ryan are two of the quintessential good guys in American politics, said Haynes: ‘Politics aside, no one questions whether or not they are good people.’ They are the kind of good people we want to run into the fire and help.
There was a time in this country when folks like this set aside personal considerations and accepted what they believed to be the honor of serving.
But the personal considerations have become more fraught. The take-no-prisoners mentality evident among the zealots on both sides extends past once-common professional boundaries. The honor of serving may now be counterbalanced by the burden of almost certain character assassination and unwarranted family stress.
Good people have reason to pause. That, perhaps, is the greatest indictment of our system today.”
Such is a sad, sobering reality.
Said Biden in his Wednesday announcement, “While I will not be candidate, I will not be silent. I intend to speak out clearly and forcefully to influence as much as I can where we stand as a party and where we need to go as a nation.”
Go Joe, go. Go Ryan, too. While we need men like each of you, we understand why you pause. That makes us sad.
Respectfully…
AR