In the Bubble

A weekly article by my favorite lobbyist and MN native.

Inside the DC Bubble
By: Steve Kopperud
We in Washington, DC, live in a bubble. We spend a whole lot of time insulated from the real world between Washington and Los Angeles, talking to ourselves, listening to our DC-based pundits, reading our DC-tainted media, and we are always astounded when we get out of Washington that folks "out there" don't think the way we do or care about the things we've convinced ourselves are so important.

I've been on the road this week, spending time with folks who come primarily from midwestern states, and when I listen to them opine on their local or state elections or on the issues that matter to them, the words I hear just don't jive with what I hear in DC.

No partisan position taken here, but this "groundswell" to toss the GOP onto the streets that's become the drumbeat for East Coast and West Coast media isn't resonating with the folks with whom I'm talking. Is there frustration with Washington? You bet. Is there concern about the war in Iraq? No question. Is there a desire to elect a whole lot of new folks? Not so much.

What I hear people talking about is the economy, the explosion of biobased alternative fuels and what that means to crop production and marketing, security -- both financial and physical, and generally their personal quality of life issues.

The people with whom I've been spending most of this week want to see Washington get off the partisan bandwagon and refocus themselves. They blame the Democrats as much as the GOP -- as they should -- for the stalemnate in DC. But there's very much a "better-the-devil-you-know" mindset among these folks.

Is this the best of all possible worlds, politically? No, it's not. Would it better if we could point to victories and we could say, "They're doing their jobs." Yup, it would. But the folks out here in the Heartland are a smart bunch, and they understand the game. They just don't like how the game's being played in DC right now.

Leaders and rank and file of both parties need to wake up. They need to get off the national party bandwagon and get back to paying attention to the folks who will ulimately elect -- or unelect -- them in about two weeks.

I couldn't have said it better myself.