80 percent
People ask me why I am such a big fan of Governor John Kasich. The answer is simple: he is genuine. I could tell from very early on in his campaign that he spoke differently than the other candidates. When John Kasich speaks, you can tell in his voice that he genuinely cares about doing what is best for his constituents.
Kasich has been in the news lately because he has written a book called “Two Paths: America United or Divided” that was released this week. Since he has been on many of the news shows, I am again noticing his genuiness and his constant drive to bring people together and having a realistic view of the politics. This is an attribute that every politician should have, but I believe is missing from our current political climate.
Now more than ever we see politicians with solely their self-interests at heart. It doesn’t take much to see that President Donald Trump talks about himself quite a bit. I just saw in an interview with The Associated Press that one of the things he talked about the most and lauds himself on is getting good ratings on television. It is time for self-righteous governing to end and time to start doing what is best for Americans by looking at what can realistically be done to help those who are hurting.
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What truly confuses me about the public is that when you ask people, “Who is an example of someone who tells it like it is and sticks to his or her principles?” People, I think, would be more apt to say Trump than Kasich because he is less willing to compromise. Trump touts completely repealing and replacing Obamacare, while Kasich touts keeping the parts that are helping people like the Medicaid Expansion and Trump gets the credit for being principled because that’s what will help him get re-elected.
I believe this mentality of, “if you are willing to compromise means you are not principled,” is dangerous for our country. And I also want to make very clear that compromising and being realistic is not being weak. In fact, I think it’s the strong thing to do because when you compromise you make people on both sides of the aisle angry, but it’s in order to advance the common good. It was Ronald Reagan who always said if he could get 80 percent of what he wanted in a deal he took it every time. This is why things got done when he was president, and no one accused him of being unprincipled and weak. He and Tip O’Neill, the Democratic speaker of the house, worked hard to get what they wanted passed, but they also worked together. That’s what we are missing today. People are no longer working together. Instead of reaching across the aisle, legislators are running to the left or right and staying there until they get 100 percent of what they want.
This is not a political philosophy that Kasich stands by, and neither do I. If you listen to him talk, he is constantly saying that we need to stop moving farther left or farther right, but move to the middle, be willing to compromise so we can actually get some work done and help people in this country.
It’s time to stop demanding 100 percent. It’s time to listen to the ghost of Reagan be realistic and be happy with 80 percent. And maybe, it’s also time to keep listening to John Kasich.
