The 2014 election is over and the winners are set in stone,
at least for the next two years anyway, but during this interim period, the
people of Congress have to find a way in order to insure that their office is
secure in 2016. Furthermore, the losers of this previous election also have to
reexamine how they approached the 2014 midterm election and learn they can
adapt their campaign messages to secure victories in the next election. As any
person who paid any attention to political news over the past couple weeks, the
Republicans attained massive victories in this most recent elections, as the
Democrats saw major losses including the forfeiture of their Senate majority.
Through an article published on Fox News entitled “New Congress: The secret
formula to keep midterm winners on top through 2015 and beyond,” Brook Manville
explores the consequences of both winning and losing this election[1].
This post will entertain the ideas mentioned in Manville’s article, by
examining how both Republicans and Democrats need to react as leaders to the
results of the 2014 midterm elections as they govern over the next couple years
and gear up for another election 2016.
As
Republicans pat each other on the back following their sweeping victory in the
recent election, they might not be aware that the Democrats who they believe
are licking their wounds are instead working harder to fight a better fight the
next election cycle. The Democrats, as with most losers following an election,
are taking a step back and examining their failures, meaning as Republicans pop
the champagne corks as Manville says, Democrats are hard at work working on
their own agenda for the upcoming Congress, as well as searching endlessly for
Republican mistakes and any information that will help them as they retool for
2016[2].
From reading Manville’s article it becomes clear that this loss allows the
losers, the Democrats, to come clean, and admit their mistakes, essentially
starting with a governmental clean slate as the Congress comes into session.
The winners or the Republicans in this case are not so lucky, voters will hold
them to the campaign promises that helped them get elected in the first place,
eliminating the ability to start afresh, as the campaign they just ran has
provided a laundry list of tasks they need to complete: slowly repeal
Obamacare, immigration reform, establish more economic stability through
conservative principles, etc. Thus, as Democrats continue to operate in the
background, they can observe how well the majority party does in its
application of its new agenda and be ready to pounce if a part of it fails and
thus emphasize it in the next election.
The
previous paragraph detailed how Democrats despite being the loser of this past
election might in fact have the upper hand as the governing begins, however if
Republicans are able to not be caught up in their overconfidence as well as
construct a strong strategy for the future, they will remain on top. As
Manville puts it, despite the fact that you want to spend your time smoothing
down your bust in the rotunda, there is governing that needs to be done[3].
Overcoming overconfidence and demonstrating humility by accepting
responsibility when a problem arises are marks of a true leader and a necessary
component for continued success in office. Furthermore, by not only accepting
responsibility for missteps, but embracing them as components of education for
future governing strategies is essential, also serving the purpose of removing
some of your opponents ammunition as they plan for the next election. Thus, the
imagining of possible future scenarios as well as analyzing past mistakes,
fosters long-term thinking, and brings about new solutions. Manville
effectively states that a government that does not “sweep mistakes under the
rug” and embracing faults not only demonstrates to the American people that
their representatives are not without faults, but it also educates them on how
to form future agendas and better defend themselves against inevitable attacks
by opponents aiming for their position of power.
One of
the major complaints of government in the past is that they do not acknowledge
that they have made mistakes in how they govern, and one of the failures of
government is that the wrong side uses failure to their advantage. If a
Democrat policy fails, they try to whitewash their mistakes and then
Republicans create campaign advertisements demonstrating their fellow party’s
incompetence. Instead of giving the opposite party such an advantage is showing
some humility and admitting failure before sweeping it under the rug.
Furthermore, they should use these failed policies as data to use to create new
and more effective solutions, which furthermore limits the opposition’s party
to hold the failure against them if it was already acknowledged that a certain
policy was a mistake. From reading this article, one final piece of advice
comes through, most leaders ignore their failures, good leaders acknowledge
them, and great leaders embrace them.
[1] Manville,
Brook. "New Congress: The Secret Formula to Keep Midterm Winners on Top
through 2015 and beyond." Fox News. November 18, 2014. Accessed November
19, 2014.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/11/18/new-congress-secret-formula-to-keep-midterm-winners-on-top-through-2015-and/.
[2]
Ibid.
[3]
Ibid.
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