Washington’s unwillingness to change

According to a recent Rasmussen Poll, only 24 percent of Americans think the country is headed in the right direction, while a full 70 percent think we’re headed down the wrong track.

Which is precisely why President Bill Clinton, in his speech at the Democratic National Convention, pledged that his “wife would be the greatest agent for change ever.”  In contrast, President Obama said essentially that he has fixed everything. And that Hillary Clinton is uniquely qualified for the Oval Office — more than either of the prior Democratic Presidents. 

{mosads}It is unarguable that Hillary Clinton has spent her entire life constructing the government that we have today. It is equally unarguable that is a government that the American people believes has failed them. In fact, each of the past two years polling has indicated that Americans believe government itself is the largest problem that faces our nation — more than terrorism, health care or the national debt. 

The question isn’t whether America is great. Of course it is. The question is, whether American government is great. But by all reasonable indications it is dramatically diminished.  The overwhelming majority of Americans say our government is a piece of crap. And neither candidate is demonstrating how they intend to change that course. 

Bill Clinton knows electoral doom is awaiting his wife if she is on the wrong side of a “change versus status quo” election in November. Hillary Clinton has spent her entire adult life constructing the status quo. Donald Trump hasn’t spent a day in it. That is essentially what this election comes down to. 

Washington’s unwillingness to change showed up in the fact that the party elites refused to acknowledge the American people’s outcry for change. None of the GOP brass showed up at the party convention because their candidate ran against what government has looked like for the past 50 years. The Democrats essentially argued like the fine print of an investment opportunity, that past performance isn’t indicative of future results. 

It is great to be an American. It is great to live in America. What isn’t great — and what Americans are screaming from the rooftops — is the inability for our government to actually deliver results rather than rhetoric. It is our government that is not great and it is time to force the Washington elites to look in the mirror and realize it is not us, but them that needs to change. 

One candidate personifies Washington as it is — she literally built it. The other hasn’t spent a day there. Our nation isn’t at a crossroads. It was at a crossroads. We chose overspending and underperformance. What remains to be seen is whether we will choose to continue. 

Aesch is the CEO of the public sector consulting firm TransPro and the author of Saving America: 7 Proven Steps to Make Government Deliver Great Results.

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