The Politics of Imperfection

With the 2008 Presidential race already heating up, my Lenten

reflections led me to ask a rather simple question: when will we
finally permit a politics that's as imperfect as we are?

Lent is upon us, and this important season began in a familiar way for
me — ashes placed upon my head; a homily focused on the irony of
receiving such an overt sign of faith on the same day the Gospel
instructs us to "take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that
people may see them;" and, most importantly, many quiet moments spent
contemplating my own sins.

With the 2008 Presidential race already heating up, my Lenten
reflections led me to ask a rather simple question: when will we
finally permit a politics that's as imperfect as we are?

Ours is a nation of dreamers — and, a nation of sinners. The same
generation that brought us a government ordained by We the People (a
government strikingly democratic for its age and flexible enough to
accomodate our evolving moral sense) also labored under the dark cloud
of slavery. At our nation's founding, ours was not to be a government
of divine kings and princes, but of men (and, eventually, women). And
yet it often seems as though the public expects perfection from its
leaders — or, at least, that's the game we play (especially during
campaign season).

In the months ahead, we'll surely delight in our candidates' silly
missteps. In 2004, we had the "Dean Scream," "I voted for it before I
voted against it," the list goes on and on. Placed next to the
scripted, balanced, perfect personas our politicians (and their
handlers) try to project, it is only natural to laugh at these
unscripted moments, these human moments, these imperfect moments.

At other times we'll focus on somewhat weightier indiscretions, often
pertaining to the candidates' younger years — ie. Governor X smoked
pot as a college student. Indeed, these absurdities were very much on
display during the confirmation process of Justice Alito in 2006 — as
our side tried to dig up old college essays and early job applications,
anything that would prove that this man was rotten from the start. To
be clear, there were plenty of legitimate reasons to oppose Justice
Alito's confirmation. In my estimation, his college thesis from
Princeton was probably not one of them.

Finally, we'll turn our attention to more recent mistakes —
extramarital affairs, unwise votes or impolitic statements. Although
these actions are far more relevant to the decisions we must make as
voters, we must not forget that our leaders are as human as we are —
nothing more.

I don't mean to simply dismiss the above actions as completely
meaningless. We must all take responsibility for our mistakes — silly
and serious alike. However, as voters, we must not expect (or demand)
perfection from our leaders — especially as we, as Christians, reflect
upon our own fallenness in the forty days ahead.

We are an imperfect people, a broken people, a diligent people. We
deserve leaders who is similarly imperfect, broken and diligent —
leaders who admit their sins, learn from their mistakes and strive to
do better.