Madame Speaker, Mr. Leader: Advice from a friend

When President Carter sent the Panama Canal treaty to the Senate it was widely hated in the state of Texas. Sen. Lloyd Bentsen knew a vote for the treaty would be met with death threats, hate mail, and powerful ammunition in the hands of his conservative opponents.

{mosads}Sen. Bentsen, who did know Jack Kennedy, voted for that treaty because he knew the merits of ratification were many and the consequences for defeat would be catastrophic for American interests throughout Latin America.

Today, many Democrats lack the courage or conviction to vote in ways they privately believe are right, even when 70 percent of their constituents believe their final votes are wrong.

Mr. Leader and Madame Speaker, your problem is not public relations. Your problem is that more than half of Americans believes their mandate from the 2006 election is being treated with disrespect and contempt by leaders of both political parties.

When a leading Democratic consultant admits he advised Democratic leaders to send young Americans to die in war, for political motives and partisan calculations, are Democratic leaders proud or ashamed, or surprised you are not applauded by a grateful nation?

When a leading Democratic pollster tells The Washington Post, shortly after Democrats worked their hearts out to elect a Democratic Congress, that you were not elected to solve the Iraq war, why are you surprised that a Democratic Congress joins a Republican president in popularity comparable to Nixon during impeachment?

When an unwise war was initiated with support from leading Democrats, and a president who speaks of World War III pushes a resolution on Iran that is passed with Democratic support, when the grave danger of another unwise war is real and 70 percent of constituents oppose it, there is no message plan to make this appealing.

When the Constitution itself is under attack by a president who believes the king is the law, and the Congress is held in repeated contempt, and time-honored checks and balances are being taken away by a power-obsessed president and given away by a submissively fearful Congress, why are Democrats surprised that the contempt of Congress by the president is matched by contempt of Congress from the voters?

When our courts of justice consider whether there have been massive violations of law through illegal eavesdropping, and politicians take money from phone companies and consider legalizing what could be illegal, the problem is not public relations but a lack of respect for the law that is now endangered by both parties.

When troops continue to die preventable deaths because they are not given adequate supplies, when scandals of wounded troops and disabled veterans continue, why is anyone surprised that military families and veterans don’t applaud and salute those who allow these wrongs to continue?

I came to Washington as a young man working for Sen. Birch Bayh. Sometimes my bosses would take me to the Mayflower Hotel where the great friend and aide to Jack and Bobby, Kenny O’Donnell, would hold court.

Someone once asked Kenny whether JFK would have escalated Vietnam and his answer was: absolutely not. His reason was that JFK was under constant pressure to fight new wars and learned after the Bay of Pigs that sometimes a leader must have the courage to say no.

In my younger days, I would walk outside when the Congress was in session late at night, look at the white dome of the Capitol against the dark sky, and feel an indescribable pride at being a part of our democracy, and a genuine honor that maybe I could make some small difference in the city where Washington and Jefferson stood, in the place where Jack and Bobby walked.

Now, like most Americans I am appalled, outraged and saddened, and suspect that from somewhere in heaven, our Founding Fathers are, too.

This is not about public relations. While our young give their lives and limbs for our country, this is about what our leaders stand for, fight for and believe in. This is about whether there is anything left in American politics that is so important that our leaders will risk their elections, as young heroes now give their lives.

Budowsky was an aide to former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen, and to Bill Alexander, then-chief deputy whip of the House. He can be read on The Hill’s Pundits Blog and reached at brentbbi@webtv.net.