I recently watched the Sean Theriault lecture and it was extremely interesting, to say the least. I really enjoyed some of the data that he presented, a lot of it was very insightful in understanding the current state of the senate. He clearly demonstrated a very strong understanding of what he was talking about and was well informed to answer questions very thoroughly.
A very clear polarization in our national government is occurring. The current Congress is on track to be one of the least productive in history, which isn’t at all surprising. What did surprise me was that the people most willing to compromise on either side of the “aisle” weren’t necessarily the most moderate ones, rather a mix of moderates and those with very strong political ideologies. I think that this actually says a lot about the people that need to be voted into office. When people are looking for candidates that will get things done, willingness to work with others as a trait is much more valuable than being more moderate.
One of the aspects that gave me hope is when he talked about some of the great bipartisan relationships that have been made over the years. I think that if there were more strong relationships between leaders that disagree, congress would be so much better off. Walking out of the capitol building every day with arms over each other’s shoulders is a great reminder that they are all working with the same goal in mind, the betterment of the U.S. At the end of the day, a lot of important things count on the production of the US congress and without their success as a body, it will be hard for any change to ever come about.
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