When the voters take charge
By Lee Hamilton

In every election, there are two elections: the actual voting, and what the politicians say the voters meant. But one thing was clear in the recent congressional election: Voters wanted change in the political environment on Capitol Hill.

Good for them! They have created a sense of optimism and a new dynamic on Capitol Hill. There is now an opportunity to heal some of the breaches that developed in recent years - to construct a Congress that is genuinely bipartisan, that gives a voice to the manifold interests in this diverse nation, and that behaves like an institution proud of its independent constitutional role.

The voters have handed political leaders - not just in Congress, but in the White House as well - an opportunity to make progress on issues critical to the nation by serving as uniters, not dividers; by taking the path of cooperation, not confrontation; and by understanding that if anything over the next two years is to get done by a Republican president and a narrowly Democratic Congress, it will have to be by appealing to the middle ground.

If they do, then I believe any number of issues that in recent years have seemed intractable will turn out to be resolvable. For instance, we may not be able to balance our budget at once, but we can certainly put national finances on a more sustainable path. There is clearly central ground on immigration questions that can be enlarged and turned into successful legislation. Health care, energy conservation, the environment - all of these are issues upon which legislators of good will with a willingness to compromise can make progress.

I don’t believe for a moment that cooperation is the only path open to our leaders. They could just as easily fall back on the tired habit of confrontation. But I prefer to hope that they will work to cleanse Washington of the bad blood and politics of accusation and resentment that have characterized it in recent years.

Certainly that is the tone that both the President and congressional leaders have been adopting since the election. If they live up to their rhetoric, then the new sense of energy and purpose that American voters gave to Capitol Hill on Election Day should yield benefits we all can enjoy.

Lee Hamilton is Director of the Center on Congress at Indiana University. He was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for 34 years.