Letters to the President: #644 'Being stand-offish'
Tom Foreman | BIO
AC360° Correspondent
Reporter's Note: President Obama continues trying to rally voters to his party’s side for the midterm election. But it is hard for anyone to stand close to big time political players on either side of the aisle.
Dear Mr. President,
I’m starting this week off a little frayed around the edges having traveled back and forth about ten hours for a friend’s wedding near New York this weekend. It was a lovely ceremony, the reception was beautiful, and they are a charming couple. There is something reassuring and inspiring about young people beginning the process of beginning a family.
You should have been there, and I’m not just saying that.
With all the absurdity and antagonism swirling around this midterm election I think it would do any pol good to spend some quality time among normal Americans doing normal American things. I don’t mean a campaign stop in a diner. I mean they should spend some real time in real settings aimed at producing real understanding, not press releases. Like maybe they should do a version of that “Undercover Boss” thing, you know?
Imagine how instructive it would be for, oh, say, a senator to call his own office (pretending to be someone else, of course) and to ask for help on some sticky matter. Or think about what he or she could learn by simply going through airports like the rest of us, with no special attention, no special favors, and no doors open that aren’t open to us all.
I’m sure in all the panic over the midterms that no one in either party has time to consider such an idea at the moment, but that really is a shame. Because I think this disconnect between our regular lives as voters and the sort of supernova existence of too many DC power players is precisely what makes so many think (especially in tough economic times) that it may be time to once again “throw the bums out.”
Speaking of difficulties, heaven knows what is going on with my Saints! We’ve have some rough, rough games lately. And your Bears aren’t looking so hot either. Well, at least we still have a lot of season to work with, eh? Give me a ring if you can. Busy week, but I’ll make time to talk if you can.
Regards,
Tom
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Filed under: Letters to the President • Opinion • President Barack Obama • Tom Foreman |
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The Prez is already trying to be everybody's president and he doesn't want to get obnoxious about the Plan and what has already been started and accomplished. He wants to sound intelligent and low key. . . look at the idiots who got all the way up to the ballot process . . . Thanks for what you do, kathleen
Mr. Foreman,
indeed we do need to take steps back from our daily lives. It's important, healthy and keeps things in perspective. If anything it lets your mind be at rest for a little while and you might even find yourself gaining better perspective in the end.
thanks,
C
In mulling this over I can't think of many activities that pull all of us together as fellow Americans except for attacks on our country (Pearl Harbor, 9/11), some wars (WW2),natural disasters (Katrina), and some assassinations (JFK, MLK, RFK). It's too bad that only bad things make us pull together as a team.
Anderson did a Nth Degree once during a particularly bad run of news (political infighting, etc) and showed that on that day in some places the sun still shone through the clouds, children still played on the play yard, families still came together at home, that a host of little things, all of them positive, still happen even though they may be drowned out by the ugly and the bad news that is reported.
Right now it may be hard to look around and find anything good but we still do have each other as fellow Americans and we still can pull out of this bad economy and everything else that vexes us currently as long as we work together.