Being a politician means never having to say you’re sorry

One of the early lessons that parents teach their toddlers is, “If you hurt someone, say you’re sorry.” As children mature, the lesson also matures to add, “When you make a mistake, admit it, say you’re sorry and learn from it.”

Hopefully, it’s a lesson learned early.

But one profession must have missed that toddler talk and instead embraced the “Love Story theme,” “Love means you never have to say you’re sorry.” But their love is different. Their manta becomes, “love for power means you never have to say you’re sorry.”

It’s not all who run for office. It’s the professional political class who’ll do anything to stay in power.

Along with politicians who repeatedly lie as quick as they smile, it causes people to view candidates as alike. They aren’t. It also begins to cast doubt on the value of a democratic form of government. A 2024 Gallop survey showed only 28% were satisfied with the way democracy is working.

Another 2024 Gallop poll showed 80% disapproved of Congress. Republicans control the House and Democrats control the Senate. That means both chambers controlled by different parties are about as popular as stepping bare foot on a Lego.

Democracy is in danger.

Politicians who aren’t authentic never admit when they’re wrong. That sours voters on the entire democratic process. So, why is it so hard for political figures to say, “I shouldn’t have done that, or I was wrong about that policy?

The answer is multifaceted, but first consider who runs. A candidate must be self-confident and have a strong ego. They believe they’re the smartest in the room. They don’t hesitate to plaster their names on yard signs, stick out their hands to strangers, and make speeches telling you why they’re the best for the job. Most people apply for a job in private.

They apply in public. That’s putting your ego publicly on the line.

If they make a mistake, it’s a public mistake. With social media, there’s a quick spin, and a quicker trial by Facebook meme.

I understand public mistakes. I advised a high school newspaper. As hard as we tried, we made mistakes and those mistakes were public. All we could do was apologize. After all, the mistakes were in literal black and white. Once a teaching colleague circled the mistakes with a red pen. I suggested quietly, where he could put his red pen. Politicians don’t have that opportunity.

The first very basic human reaction to a mistake or scandal is to deny, deny, deny. Even though our kids are holding the broken lamp, they deny breaking it. For a politician, that basic reaction compounds the problem because the denial, if later shown as untrue, means the candidate or officeholder not only made the original mistake, but lied to cover it up.

Remember, President Bill Clinton didn’t get impeached for having sex with an intern. He almost lost his job because he lied about it under oath and obstructed justice. Now, former President Donald Trump doesn’t just deny, he has refined attacking the accuser to an art.

Sometimes it’s not the candidate making the mistake. It’s the voters. We hold candidates to an impossible standard of never changing their minds. That means politicians cannot comfortably evolve based on new facts about an issue. The “flip flopper attack” works too often. Voters seem to reward consistency above intellectual honesty even when facts change.

We should at least hold career politicians to the same standard as we hold our toddlers. “If you make a mistake, admit it, and don’t do it again.”

Bruce Lear of Sioux City taught for 11 years and represented educators as an Iowa State Education Association Regional Director for 27 years until retiring. BruceLear2419@gmail.com