Consider how to get to where we all want to go

Whether a celebrity runs for office, like former baseball player Mark Teixeira or someone whose name we are still fated to know, they announce their policy intentions with the same basic phrases. Democrats or Republicans they are equally "high concept," vague slogan, seekers after your vote. And while Republicans seem to have "Make America Great Again" locked up, Democrats promise the same improvements in society. Their Time Machine will take you forward, while the other promises time travel in the direction. No matter! Both pledge to arrive in the "Promised Land." What do they all say they stand for? Let's take Teixeira. He wants border security., Check! Last I heard no one intends to campaign for border insecurity. He wants low taxes, smaller government and a growing economy. Check! No one I know wants excessive taxes, or an oversize government or a slowing economy. He wants individual liberty. Check. He promotes energy independence. Not quite sure what they actually looks like, but, check, we all support increasing energy generation. He wants to end "forever wars." Again check. And is for election integrity, Congressional reform, government efficiency and against "wasteful spending." Check. check, check. If I were running for office I would be more or less for the same things. And so I think would all of us. They are the political version of motherhood, apple pie and the Chicago Cubs. Everyone for and no one against, well maybe the South Side of Chicago. Obviously, the real political divisions are about how to achieve these objectives, with at least some acknowledgement that too great a push for some may make it more difficult to achieve another. The citizen problem is how to force candidates to discuss how they plan to pilot their "time machines" to the Big Rock Candy Mountains. Let's make the "big" assumption, or bet. Money on the table. I say the American voter can hand this kind of politics. I always thought that Adlai Stevenson's campaigns left a serious misconception in the mind of many political hopefuls. They said he lost because he refused to talk down to the American people. Actually, he lost because he ran against Ike. Both times! There are difficulties with this approach. Getting people on the same page means finding neutral source materials. It takes time and skill to edge people away from their favorite cable news source and internet influencers. Maybe instead of the accusatory "how do you know that," discuss why I see it differently. Ask, "help me get it right." Begin to jointly explore new territory. "What is it that I don't know?" "What is it that we both don't know?" Getting it right is always a journey into new spaces. Share how you look at information. Nothing is explained by a sample of one. Hey, all sports fans know about the 'small sample" fallacy. Or turn the conversation toward finding out how much we may actually agree with each other. We might be surprised. Not all hills are mountains. It would help if our schools carried some of the load. Too many "progressives" think "civics" is all about running around neighborhoods, passing out leaflets. Sure, that is one form of political activism, but we can do a much better job of preparing students for real civic action. What about learning how to represent and interpret data in effective charts and tables? History can teach about how people get fooled, and about the hard edges of elbows in political life. Math can teach what we need to know to use information, and science teaches us how to identify that information. And don't get me started on "reading level." There is actually a vocabulary and syntax requirement for good citizenship. Teach: "however," "at the same time," "nevertheless," "moreover," "to a lesser extent," "as a consequence of…" We look at political campaigns, at least our cartoons do, and we see repeated non-sense. Seems too bad that our finest hour of political reporting is ridicule. But we deserve it. John Bing is Emeritus Professor of Political Science at Heidelberg University and writes a by-weekly newsletter at johnb0c.substack.com