Sounds like the title of a Hardy Boys or Tom Swift novel, doesn’t it?
Many of the Al will-he-or-won’t-he diaries and associated comments posted lately propose a dilemma: Al will have to forego his environmental activism for his presidential duties if elected. I disagree. One aspect of Al's possible run I haven’t seen discussed (and feel free to smack me if it has, and I’ll delete this) is the power of the bully pulpit. More below.
The bully pulpit is a term introduced by Theodore Roosevelt to describe the power of the Presidency to advocate an agenda. While the term has been broadened to describe any position of political power or influence, President Roosevelt’s original definition is truer today than when he first said it: the American Presidency is by far the bulliest of pulpits.
The power of the bully pulpit isn’t just in advocating an agenda; it’s in controlling the subject of public discourse. While the control isn’t absolute, it is far stronger than the most intense efforts of, say, the right wing media. Any pronouncement by the president is carried as straight news. This has become painfully apparent as the inane, vapid, ignorant and frequently deceptive utterances of the current president are quoted with all seriousness by the media, and then breathlessly analyzed ad nauseum by the pundits. The President can get an unadulterated message to the American people several times a week. Yes, he may be spun after the fact by partisan pundits, but his words are carried, in his voice. A confident, warm, caring, obviously intelligent President making full use of this exposure would reach average Americans like no other advocate can even dream of, and no advocacy group can afford.
The public discourse isn’t restricted to America. Concerns of the American President tend to become concerns of the world. The American President can carry the dialog straight to heads of state. This high-level access is hugely synergistic with existing worldwide grassroots activism, and becomes particularly important as global issues such as terrorism and the environment surmount national issues.
The American President has the bulliest of geographic pulpits: the Oval Office. Still the center of global power, despite the best efforts of the current president. Intractable politicians, business leaders and foreign dignitaries, when confronted by a charming, brilliant President in the Oval Office, are honored, probably awed, and much more open to discussion.
The American President has the bulliest of portable pulpits too: Air Force One. The symbol of power. Air Force One, a little warmth, a lot of rationality and a hell of a lot of preexisting respect, and an American President becomes a strikingly effective ambassador for, say, addressing global warming.
The American President controls policy. And executive agencies. And budgets. This is the only national government position charged with implementing and enforcing policy. And it has the funding to do it. Funding that will be provided by a solidly Democratic legislature during the next 8 years.
Al has been strikingly effecting at communicating his environmental message, and in using unconventional and innovative ways to do so. He has my gratitude and admiration for his selfless dedication. However, he currently can only influence others to take action, and his influence is mostly limited to those that proactively seek out his message. In many cases, those that have the power to make significant environmental improvements aren’t influenced by him. In fact, they fight him in any way they can, from junk science to character assassination.
The only way for Al to implement social and technological change at the rate necessary to mitigate accelerating environmental damage is to adopt a two-pronged approach: multiply his influence a thousand fold, and acquire direct, regulatory control of intransigent, environmentally devastating industries. This is only possible by becoming President. Hands on isn’t the best use of Al’s skills and passion. Leadership is. Policy is. Staffing federal agencies with environmental activists will result in an orders of magnitude increase in his ability to influence and drive change. Setting environmental policy empowers governmental and non-governmental agencies to take rapid and large-scale action. Presidential news conferences will reach more people worldwide than a hundred years of Inconvenient Truth screenings.
I’m 51. I’ve never been involved in politics before. I’ve lived through the Cuban Missile crisis (while living on a SAC base), lived through Vietnam and the Cold War, and lived through Nixon. I’ve never been this frightened. I think the life of our country, and quite possibly the life of the world may depend upon the results of the next election. I honestly don’t think the other candidates will act quickly and decisively enough to stop the current political and environmental catastrophes. Al saw years ago that we’re in a tip-over situation--the old rules don’t apply. I don’t think we can wait 8 years for the Dem establishment to catch up.
I’m voting next year as if my life depended on it. I hope to hell I’m able to vote for Al.