It was Missouri Governor Jay Nixon who appointed Capt. Ronald Johnson to take over Ferguson’s police force, finally calming tensions in the city after Michael Brown was killed unarmed by police officers. Yet, much of the political dialogue in America centers on the race for the White House instead of the state, local, and congressional races that all too often ending up affecting the lives of everyday Americans. Rather than the District Attorneys, sheriffs, and representatives at the center of the controversies and legal battles that shape our politics, it is the President who is more likely to shoulder the blame or enjoy the credit for our government’s successes and its failures.
Since President Obama took office in 2009, I have heard plenty of people complain about things that are beyond his control. “Obama is trying to screw us over by passing this law”, “Obama isn’t doing what he promised he would do”, or even “The road by my house is falling apart, why is our president not doing anything about it?” Americans should know that the president does not have control over any of those things. The president does not have the power to do whatever he (or she) pleases. To be fair, it might be hard to remember that fact with the abundance of attention nearly every detail of the presidential race receives.
More than 90 percent of our members of Congress are re-elected every election cycle, despite Congress having only a 13% approval rating. This is the result of the advantages of incumbency, such as the fact that many people do not pay attention to ‘down-ballot’ races. When we talk about politics people are more interested in the twists and turns and meaningless information about the presidential candidates, instead of paying attention to all the components that make up our government.
We let Congress and our local leaders continue get away with incompetence because we do not seem to care about the whole picture. We continue to elect the same individuals who continue to disregard our best interests, who are unmotivated to spend the political capital required, and who refuse to work with the president the country has elected. Why would they? It isn’t them who will take the blame.
This not only applies to Congress, but also to our state officials, district attorneys, and city council members who ultimately decide on the state minimum wage, enforcement of the laws we are subject to, and so much more. Voting in local elections grants you more influence in the decision making than you’d ever be afforded by a US president. You get to elect your mayor, city council, school board, and county officials — who all work within driving distance of your home. That influence could in turn lead to changes farther up than you could have directly contributed to otherwise . It is said that you cannot build something from the top down — rather than bottom up. Everything needs a strong foundation, especially our government, and that foundation is in our schools and city halls, not the White House.
Presidents are important, but so are your representatives, senators, the state, and local politicians who often go unscrutinized by the public. Do not expect change to happen if you only vote for high office and neglect the ones that could affect you more. People wonder why nothing gets done, while forgetting it takes more than just the president to do much of anything.
