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| The Colorado Delegation in front of the Capitol |
I am currently reading the book “Team of Rivals: The
Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, by Doris Kearns Goodwin. The movie “Lincoln” was based, in part,
on this book – although the movie only depicted a small segment of the story.
When “Lincoln” hit the theaters, I was enthralled by
it. I knew how it would end
– happily, the slaves would be freed and tragically, he ultimately would meet
his demise from an assassin’s bullet.
The story illustrated his focus on doing what was right in
his heart. He faced tremendous
challenges within himself, his wife/family and his political advisors. Not to mention, the social norm at the
time (slavery), the soldiers that were fighting in the Union Blues and the
forgiveness that he exhibited toward the Confederates. Lincoln, filled with guilt over the
realities of war, always considered the southern states his countrymen and
reinstated them to full citizenship upon the ending of the war.
Lincoln was torn every minute of every day. I could imagine the questions that he
would be asking himself – “Am I doing the right thing? Is it worth the war and all of its
casualties? Why do the people I am leading, continue to follow? Is all of this worth the personal
sacrifice to me and my family?”
And the most important question,
“Why me? Couldn’t Seward or Chase be in charge?”
There was so much history in the movie that I was unaware
if, I went and saw the movie again – and ultimately bought the book. The book tells the back-story of how
Lincoln arrived at becoming the leader that he was.
“Team of
Rival’s” – Lincoln took his biggest political rivals – people he ran against
for President and lesser political positions - and made them his cabinet. He made them his closest, most trusted
advisors.
This is the political equivalent of President Obama asking
John McCain or Mitt Romney to fill the same roles.
I have been in Washington DC this past week as part of a
delegation of the Colorado Dental Association and the American Dental
Association to try to improve the delivery of dental care to our
communities. During our time here
we heard many politicians and pundits describing for us the current state of
politics and the political process.
As you already know, the climate isn’t pretty. The government is spending much more
than it has and nothing is getting done.
There is party posturing and political stalemates on every front.
Our delegation met with all of our legislators or legislative
staff. We are looking to reform
dental insurance - to break up the monopoly that they have. With a monopoly, there is no
competition. With no competition,
there is no innovation in the plans and the insured don’t always get the best
benefits at the best price.
A new medical device task is being implemented soon. But there is no definition of what
constitutes a “medical device”. We
asked to repeal the tax. If they
aren’t going to repeal the tax, at least define what is to be taxed. As of now, no one has any idea!
I didn’t get a feeling like we were making an impression on
any front. I hope we planted a
seed of change that we can nurture over time into definitive action.
Back to Abe Lincoln…As we were meeting with our legislators,
searching for inspiration I began to think, what would a leader like Lincoln do
in today’s Washington?
I would think he/she would act courageously, inspire us as a
country and bring us together by forgiving the past to move us forward.
I would hope that he/she would say, “We as a country are in
trouble. If we continue along the path we are on, the country and all of it’s
people will not be free.
Unfortunately, there is no easy solution. Everyone must be willing to sacrifice and compromise your
beliefs so we can once again be the country that we once were. We must not live
in the past and pass along the blame that it was the democrats or republicans
fault. It does no good. We must move forward with a unified
vision of a thriving future -an America that courageously stands on the
principles upon which it was founded.
We must change or suffer our demise.”
The only way to do this is for our president to look back in our history and create a “Team of Rivals”. Get the political fighting done behind closed doors, come
out with a unified front and unite us, inspire us and let’s move forward before
it is too late.