Letters to the President: #671 'Well, what do you know?'
Tom Foreman | BIO
AC360° Correspondent
Reporter's Note: As cities go, Washington is kind of like a teenager - absolutely convinced that everyone else is looking at it. As I found before I wrote today’s letter, however, that’s not necessarily the case.
Dear Mr. President,
I read an article about how many Americans realize the Republicans won control of the House in this last election, and good new for you, it’s not that many! Apparently while a lot of people know the Repubs won something, slightly more than half are not sure what it was. Could have been a kitchenette, a trip to the Bahamas, or an iPad for all they know.
Like I said, that sounds like good news for you.
I mean, after all, if people don’t realize your side lost, do you really have to accept that you did? You made a whole big point right after the election of saying you had not communicated your accomplishments well enough to the voters. Maybe you should call another presser and just say, “Oh, and btw, that last vote? On second thought, we won!” Now that would be some communication!
Of course, I’m just goofing, but there is a truth here: Washington always gets very worked up over each change on the congressional scoreboard. But regular voters, not so much. I think, in most cases, many of them care a lot less about who gets credit or blame than they do about what gets done.
So while your political pals on both sides of the aisle waste inordinate amounts of time having slap fights, if you can simply find a way to keep moving forward - whether through compromise, arm-twisting, or whatever - I suspect you can still turn the results of this election to your favor.
You’ve spent a lot of time lately comparing government to a car, and that works here too. Most of us don’t really care what makes the engine run. We just want to get where we are going.
I hope you Sunday is lovely. We’re already deep in the throes of Thanksgiving preparations. Do you like real cranberry sauce or the canned kind? It would be interesting to know…
Regards,
Tom
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Filed under: Letters to the President • Opinion • President Barack Obama • Tom Foreman |
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