Political Science 101

Chapter Fifty-Five

RAY DOYLE was a little nervous. He'd never been interviewed by a national media outlet before, but he knew it was something he could handle.

Granted, this was just a brief segment at the end of the NBC Nightly News about how Ray, having been appointed to Congress, was branding himself as a Congressman of compromise in a time when the nation's politicians (as well as the citizenry as-a-whole) were more politically divided than at any time since the civil war. So being a politician who seemed to pride himself in being willing to compromise made him a novelty on Capitol Hill.

At the end of nearly every NBC Nightly News broadcast, they typically end with a positive story (because much of the rest of the news is negative). And they elected to do a brief piece on Ray Doyle, the young new Congressman, running for re-election (or, in his case, election), who seemed to push partisanship aside and get something done.

"I make the choices and do the things I think the people want," Ray said in the opening of his interview. "I haven't lost sight of the fact that I represent people, not myself. That's the problem with all these politicians."

"Explain what you mean by that," the woman interviewing him said in an inquisitive tone.

"Okay, here's the thing: When a lot of these Congressmen are elected, they come to Washington and vote the way they want on bills, laws, issues, etc. They arrogantly assume that the people of their district elected them for their personal opinions. That's not true. The United States is not a democracy; we are a republic. We have a representative government. So a Congressman isn't sent to Washington to vote his own views. A Congressman is sent to Washington to represent the best interests of the people of his district."

"And you see this as a problem?" the woman asked.

"Of course!" Ray replied. "It is the responsibility of a legislator to act within the best interest of his constituency, regardless of his or her personal views. So I never cast a vote on the floor of Congress without finding out what the people of my district want or need or what is in their best interests. No one pulls my strings. I act based on what the people of my district in Missouri need and what will make their lives better."

"So, the rest of the country doesn't matter?" the woman asked, trying to ask a rude question politely.

"That's not what I'm saying at all," Ray replied. "But the rest of the country is represented by someone else. That's the foundation of a representative republic such as ours."

The interview continued for a few more minutes and painted Ray as a Congressman whose only loyalty was to his constituents. And following the broadcast, the internet was ablaze with positivity and negativity toward Ray's interview.

Those who felt his interview was positive praised him for being the type of politician the forefathers intended when they wrote the constitution and established the nation. They praised his honesty and his loyalty to the people who elected him.

Those who felt his interview was negative mocked him for being too naïve, too idealistic, or flat-out accused him of lying. Some people simply could not fathom the possibility of a politician being the type of politician who listened to the people and acted to benefit the citizens who elected him. The cynicism of the citizenry was simply too deep for an honest politician to even exist, regardless of what he said.

But behind these words, behind these statements, behind this interview — hundreds of miles away — Lenore Sable sat in a padded chair in her lavish house in her lavish living room watching her lavish television, knowing full-well this was exactly what she wanted Ray to say, exactly the impression she wanted Ray to give, and exactly the reaction she wanted the people to have.

This was a single solitary strategic chess move in a series of many, but this one was important because it impacted the nation's perception of Congressman Ray Doyle. And in American politics, perception is reality.