Use and Throw Politics May BecomeReality, If Not Even PoliticiansDare Stand Up for What They Are

He stands there, with family and aides in the background, and when he speaks of Republican successes in the congressional election, he is so moved and proud that he has to wipe away a tear. He will now advance from minority leader to speaker of the House of Representatives in Washington. Suntanned 60-year-old John Boehner from Ohio is an experienced politician, but it seems he wants to pretend otherwise. For the Republican message in this election is that ordinary folks will be in charge. He speaks of politicians who do not listen to the American people.

“For far too long, Washington’s been doing what’s best for Washington, not what’s best for the American people,” says Boehner.

We are spending our fall holiday week in New York; it is Halloween and election time. But the costumed ghosts on the streets are not particularly scary … quite the opposite; many are rather small and sweet. Trying to keep up with the American midterm elections is a little more frightening. This seems to be the election in which politicians do not want to be politicians; yet, that is exactly what they want. One by one, these candidates speak, especially challengers from the so-called tea party movement, about sending the message to Washington that ordinary folks have had enough.

Before election day, we are surprised by the undisguised mudslinging by the opponents who appear in commercials. “It’s like they’re badmouthing each other,” marvels my son. The recently concluded Swedish election feels like a pleasantly cozy coffee party, in comparison with all this virulent tea slurping. Surely, this can only serve to raise contempt for politicians. In this year’s general election, several Swedish parties tested televised political advertising; imagine, we are not so far behind.

We walk past a polling station and it seems fairly quiet. And the turnout isn’t high, just over 40 percent in the country, as a whole, and lower in New York. When it becomes clear that Republicans have won the House of Representatives by a wide margin, but not the Senate, Republican commentators state that the American people have sent a clear message to Washington: They want a change, an end to wasting money, particularly on health insurance. Meanwhile, Democrat pundits are more hesitant about what the people really do and do not want. One cites a study according to which a majority of people believe that Obama has raised taxes, when, in fact, he has not. Another study indicates that most Americans don’t believe that Obama caused the economic crises; however, they believe he has failed to solve it.

Two years ago, an immense desire for change propelled Obama to power. Now, it is clearly time for change again. Disposable politics may become reality, if even politicians dare not stand up for what they are. Although several tea party candidates made it to the House, Christine O’Donnell failed to become senator. She was blown off course, partly due to her lack of knowledge about the Constitution and several other peculiarities. After the election defeat, she says that she feels she did not get enough support from the Republican Party. The tea party movement is frightening for Democrats, but — in all likelihood — just as terrifying for Republicans. Sarah Palin for presidential candidate in 2012? Perhaps this would raise Obama’s chance of being re-elected. Perhaps someone entirely different will be borne forward by new demands for change and a quick fix. On the street, several earnest figures hand out flyers stating the world will come to an end in 2012, or maybe it was 2013. “Sarah Palin as president — perhaps that’s why,” says my teenage son.