My new political hero?

Let me tell you, it feels very weird in my mouth to put the words “political” and “hero” together, especially lately. But if it’s even possible for such a person to exist in my world, I think Ben Sasse may be one. A freshman senator from Nebraska, he just finished his first year in the Senate, during which he claims to have kept silent on purpose. Outside the senate he has been engaging with all of his fellow senators to discuss what they think is wrong with things as they stand. After a year of that and observing how things run, he took the floor for the first time recently to present his ideas on what’s wrong and how to fix it.

What he has to say is not the usual boilerplate we’re used to hearing. He’s not calling for greater civility and an end to conflict in the Senate’s deliberations, but for more substance. He’s not asking them to shy away from conflict, but rather use debate for its best purposes of sifting, vetting, and developing ideas to address the real problems America faces.  I found it interesting that of the three former senators he holds up as examples of the type of leadership and deliberation he believes will restore the effectiveness of the Senate, two of them were Democrats.

Sasse is a Republican, but what he has to say has nothing to do with partisanship, but about the Senate’s vision for itself, of its purpose, and its processes. It’s nearly a half-hour speech, but if you’re among the 90% of Americans that think our Congress is doing a terrible job, it’s worth the time to see what he has to say. If we had a Senate that actually did what he recommends I think we’d have a different country today.

Admittedly I know nothing about his politics outside this single speech. I’m weighing it in a vacuum, on it’s merits alone. I didn’t even know he was a Republican until after I listened and looked him up. My impressions are formed from this single speech on this narrow topic.