The following is presented as part of The Columbian’s Opinion content, which offers a point of view in order to provoke thought and debate of civic issues. Opinions represent the viewpoint of the author. Unsigned editorials represent the consensus opinion of The Columbian’s editorial board, which operates independently of the news department.
It was a lively discussion, which probably is to be expected when Ed Barnes, Bob Schaefer, and Al Bauer visit The Columbian’s Editorial Board.
They are, after all, among the people who put the “mover” in the phrase “mover and shaker” in this community, and they have been doing so for a long time. Clark County simply would not be the place we know today without them.
Never being the types to avoid a challenge, Barnes, Schaefer, and Bauer paid us a visit to discuss their latest endeavor — seeing to it that the Interstate 5 Bridge gets replaced. They have formed a loosely formal Bridge Replacement Group to help put pressure on state lawmakers and anybody else who needs to be leaned upon to create movement on the project, recognizing its vital importance to the future of the community.
While our discussion focused upon the bridge and the failed Columbia River Crossing, and the role that state Sen. Ann Rivers and then-state Sen. Don Benton played in scuttling that project in 2013, something that Bauer said piqued my interest.
Asked whether lawmakers should be beholden to the will of their constituents, he said: “Well, this is essential to a democracy. Sometimes, you can’t represent your people how they think they should be represented.”
A lot of voters might disagree with that. The question is, after all, central to the difference between a representative democracy and a pure democracy, and it has been debated in the United States for roughly 241 years.
“A lot of people understand the appropriate processes for a legislator who gets elected to make the appropriate decisions for his community,” Bauer continued. “Even though there’s a large crowd shouting against it, the good legislator is a statesman who steps up and takes the heat because — and this is hard to say — he knows more about the facts and the intricacies of this issue than those who are criticizing it.”
That is, indeed, hard to say. But Bauer has some foundation for insight; he was a state representative from 1971 to ’81, and then spent 20 years as a state senator. The fact is that casting a vote that impacts the lives of people is more difficult and requires more thought than being an armchair quarterback — and everybody with a keyboard and an Internet connection these days thinks they are the Tom Brady of armchair quarterbacks.
“This is what’s wrong with Congress and what’s wrong with government today — legislators look at the next election,” Bauer said. “That’s not always the right thing to do. That’s where the crux of the matter is — if you can’t show some leadership with maybe the idea that you have some special knowledge.”
Conscience vs. public will
There is some truth in this, even if it is not absolute. When it comes to the difficult questions, legislators — at the least the ones who have integrity — put a lot of time and effort into examining the issue and listening to constituents of all persuasions instead of following the crowd. Tough issues are never black and white; otherwise, they wouldn’t be tough.
That is why the Founding Fathers created a representative democracy rather than a pure democracy. Yet while those founders gave lawmakers the power to follow their conscience, they also emphasized the need to follow the public’s will. Thomas Jefferson once wrote: “The force of public opinion cannot be resisted, when permitted freely to be expressed. The agitation it produces must be submitted to.” It should be noted that Jefferson preceded that with, “The only security of all is in a free press.”
In other words, there is room to quibble with Bauer’s assertion, and yet it provides fodder for discussion. Good politicians sometimes must lead from the front, taking positions because they are right and not because they are popular; great politicians sway the public to their point of view.
All of which is pertinent to the issue of the I-5 Bridge — an effort that for far too long has been longing for great leadership.
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