In her effort to extricate Great Britain from the European Union, as per voters wishes, Prime Minister Theresa May is being roundly criticized for sticking to her guns rather than seeking the counsel of her adversaries on what they think would be a more acceptable exit.
Mays tenacity once hailed as doggedness is now regarded as pig-headedness, according to this weeks Economist.
The 2016 referendum won by a margin of 52 percent to 48 percent. Turnout was massive.
And yet Mays Plan B still does nothing to reflect the minority, which is why many members of Parliament are calling for a second vote, now that they, and the public, more fully understand the ramifications of cutting ties with the EU.
WHATS THIS to do with us?
Only to remind us that most elections are not mandates and it behooves those elected to pay mind to those left on the outside by defeat.
In veteran New York Times reporter Peter Bakers new book on former President Barack Obama, Baker notes that Obama started off on the wrong foot when he used his victory as a mandate to enact legislation.
Elections have consequences, Obama said in defense of an economic stimulus package in the wake of the 2008 recession. And I won.
Right out of the gate, that hubris helped engender a determination among Republican leaders to block every Democratic initiative they could.
In 2016, Donald Trump lost the popular vote by more than 3 million, but now governs as if his win in the electoral college is a mandate for his policies, such as they are. Such an attitude is why a majority of Americans resent his recent demand for an additional $5.7 billion for the border wall with Mexico in exchange for opening back up the partially shuttered federal government.
Recent polls show that more than 70 percent of Americans do not think additional funding for the wall should be a condition for reopening the government. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of federal employees and contractors continue without pay, five weeks into the shutdown.
From city council member to governor to president of the United States, our elected officials owe their constituents not just their political base respect by listening to their concerns and viewpoints.
Locally, county commissioners are weighing whether to back a new initiative to promote Allen County on a wide-scale platform. With the decision comes balancing the concerns of those worried it would hurt the efforts of local chambers of commerce against those who think the larger-scale effort would lift all boats.
The same goes for those working for the passage of a bond issue to build a new elementary school for USD 257.
They listened to those who in 2014 voted against building a new K-12 school campus and changed course. Instead of tackling everything at once, theyre taking small steps to address the most critical issues first. The price tag is half as much. And the site is in town.
This is public discourse at its best. Locals feeling empowered to speak their minds, in the assurance they not only will be heard, but heeded.
— Susan Lynn
