A war on rhetoric

Characteristically, each candidate promises a new style of leadership, a better way of getting things done, and new hope in America especially for anyone disappointed by or alienated from the current administration.

People are ready for a change, polls say, as they always are in the waning years of a two-term president. An Associated Press-AOL News survey last month revealed that two-thirds of Americans believe the country "is on the wrong track," and nearly that same number have serious doubts that President George W. Bush and the now-Democrat-controlled Congress can work together effectively to make things better.

Again, as always, the upstart candidates target the big hot-button topics of the year. This time it's Iraq. Afghanistan. Terrorism. Immigration reform. Energy. Health care. Social Security. The economy. Education. Environment. Once elected, they pledge, they'll get to work solving all these critical concerns.

It's the bloody war in Iraq - or, more specifically, the ongoing U.S. entanglement in the bloody war in Iraq - that by far dominates the political agenda on all sides. The escalating violence has forced President Bush into a no-win situation where neither a troop "surge," nor a withdrawal, nor a "stay-the-course" strategy would prove popular with his critics and with the American public.

For all the administration's critics, however, no one - not even the smiling candidates and would-be candidates themselves - has offered any viable alternative strategy. The same is true of most of the "secondary" issues: Too many politicians are long on promises, short on specifics, shorter still on delivery.

It's not necessarily that these issues, though often complex, are insoluble; it's just that the solutions may not win praise from critical segments of the voting public, include the middle-class. To take a courageous but unpopular stand on behalf of the common good expends much political capital, and that could prove disastrous for one's own political future or for the success of his or her political party - which likely was a major factor in last year's gridlock over immigration reform.

In the meantime, there's a risk that the American public might follow suit - that their focus may turn away from present opportunities in favor of the hope that a political sea change in November 2008 will make all the difference. Having all but given up on the present administration and anticipating a fruitless standoff between a lame-duck president and a potentially antagonistic Congress, Americans and savvy politicians alike may look past the next 21 months and pin its hopes on new national leadership. And that would be a terrible mistake.

The disposition of the war in Iraq between now and the general elections likely will hold great sway with voters, and surely it is a significant issue. It would be a shame, however, if other concerns - immigration, health care, life issues, poverty - were to be left in the background.

It is vital that the political campaign season provide more substance than style, that the truly critical issues remain part of the national debate, and that we hold our present elected leaders accountable for whatever action or inaction they may take over the next two years.

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