The Wisconsin Policy Research Institute

I Know, I Know - If You Want a Friend, Get a Dog

By George Lightbourn

Yes I understand, politics is rough and tumble. Again and again I’m told that, “It ain’t beanbag.”

Those who are drawn to politics these days seem to be those who just love a good scrap. They’re winners and nothing can make them happier than seeing the other side stumble. Every thought, every hallway conversation, every budget amendment, every bill is an opportunity, not only for them to stretch their policy legs, but also to kick the other fellow in the shins.

I was reminded of this yesterday watching a typical exchange in the Capitol. First, for some mysterious reason Mark Pocan published a letter accusing the Taxpayers Alliance of somehow being a front for business or conservatives or some such shady entities. Unable to simply scratch his head at Pocan’s bizarre letter, Steve Nass fired off a press release blasting Pocan for intimidating the press and reminding the reader that Pocan was the one who doesn’t like the Boy Scouts (an issue that is so dated that I became entangled with yeas ago when I was in government).

Clearly, there is simply no place on the political landscape for friendship, not with the other tribe. Our politicians would instinctively join right in the street fight between the Montagues and the Capulets in the opening scene of Romeo and Juliet. An unwritten but firm rule is that Ds flock only with other Ds and Rs only with other Rs. Armed with press releases and printouts, these two camps are forever spoiling for fight.

And that is too bad. Friendship should be part of politics. I’ve had some quiet conversations with our three former governors, all of whom speak wistfully about their time in the Legislature. Take Tommy Thompson for example; no one could deliver a better political right cross than my former boss, especially during his days in the Legislature. But Tommy, just like his fellow ex-governors, regrets the way things have changed, what with the slipstream of invective that so many of our elected leaders seem to relish. Tommy and the other former lions of the Capitol all tell of an era – before the mid 1990s – when daytime combatants would unwind together over a nighttime beverage. But no more; and that is a shame.

I think of my own friends who come in all shapes and political persuasions. With friends, I’m more likely to understand their thinking, even if they seem fixated on a bad idea. With friends I’m not so quick to criticize. And when we disagree we do it face to face. Oscar Wilde had it right;” A true friend stabs you in the front.” And with friends, I never sweat the small disagreements.

Tommy had it right. Somehow government seemed better when it was more civilized. But finding mutually acceptable high ground over a cold beer at a Madison watering hole seems as dated as a K-car sporting a baby-on-board sign. And that’s a shame.

I know that it’s probably unrealistic to expect civility to return to the Capitol. That was another time. No, for whatever reason, we seem intent on sending to Madison a generation of legislators who are comfortable looking forward to a rather short funeral procession.

-February 26, 2009

I Know, I Know - If You Want a Friend, Get a Dog

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