Magic will not work by Al Sikes

Magic will not work. Its future is not like the stock market—retreat, retreat, and then go on a tear. Institutional renewal is hard work and has to be intentional and led by those with an eye on history, on the fundamentals; not just the next skirmish on TV’s new shows or leading podcasts.

This is not a “thrust and parry” game. Maybe it is a game, but the consequences of losing are catastrophic. At least to any kind of meaningful democracy. The institution: The Congress of the United States.

I still miss him. We would have a go at elections but, more importantly, at what was going on in Congress. He had been a Congressional Page in 1954 when there was an attack on Congress by Puerto Rican terrorists. His path started with a Boy Scout magazine that included an article on the opportunity to be a Page.

We went to Westminster College (Fulton, Missouri) together, and then he headed off to Washington. The pull was inexorable. Then almost two dozen years later he called me and said he was coming back to Southeast Missouri and running for the Congressional seat occupied by a Democrat. What else? This was a District in the Southeast part of the State that was solidly Democratic. Or so the politicians said.

After drawing a breath or two I said, “are you crazy?” He wasn’t; we worked together, and then he went to Washington as a new Member of the House of Representatives. His name: Bill Emerson.

Bill died in 1996 and his wife JoAnne took his place. His District’s voters were pleased with the Emersons. He was an institutionalist and would be outraged to learn that among American institutions the Congress had shrunk to only a 16% approval. Gallup in 2024 reported that 77% disapproved, 12% approved and 7% had no opinion.

16%? Any institution or business not embedded in the Constitution and funded by the taxpayers with that approval level would be history. And, its leaders that preceded its virtual bankruptcy would be outcasts. Shame would be splashed around and few would avoid it.

At the national level only the Congress can make new laws, declare war, regulate commerce and control taxing and spending policies. There is a lot under that hood, so don’t stop with my few words in discovering its written but badly compromised authority. What it is really good at is hosting verbal wars in dug-in trenches.

At the risk of overdoing it, 77% of Americans disapprove of the institution that has the most expansive authority over its citizens. Maybe in the next election campaign that begins on January 4th, after they are sworn in the day before, questions should be asked. Here a few to start the conversation.

Why has the approval of Congress shrunk so low? Why would you work for an employer with such a bad reputation?

What can you do to improve it?

Who is in control of Congress? The President? Large campaign contributors? Both?

Or, the next time you get a survey or donation request from your Member, ask them some variation on the questions above. If Congress persists in deferring to the President, not passing funding bills on time, and allowing wars to persist without its authority, the ratings will not improve, and then what? Kick the proverbial ball down the field.

I’m reminded of the old and said to be true story about the frog in the pot of water. If the water is boiling the frog quickly jumps out. But, if the water is brought to a boil slowly, by the time the frog discovers its peril it is too late to exit. This session, indeed in every session of Congress, the health of the institution should be front and center. Right now Congressional approval is underwater. We need way more Bill Emersons. Persons who prefer an employer with an improving reputation.

Postscript.  The United States Senate can begin its show of institutional integrity by carefully scrutinizing President-Elect Trump’s middle finger; just exposed. It is hard to consider the stated nomination of Matt Gaetz to be Attorney General differently. Scrutinize, scrutinize, scrutinize.

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al writes on themes from his book, Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books.