A Key Democracy Secret Hiding in Political Ads
One evening during the Olympics, a fascinating political ad came on that I want you to know all about. Because this ad, like so many, banks on people knowing diddly squat about policymaking.
Clearly, this ad did not account for Policy is for Lovers readers!
Who the ad is about is less important than what it's trying to do. This type of messaging is used by both parties across these United States.
The ad opens with a swoop of dramatic music: crisis is unfolding before our very eyes! But then, when it all seems too much to handle, the music turns lighter, the colors turn brighter. Worry not! Our hero - the politician - introduced a bill to resolve this very dramatic crisis.
What luck! Problem solved. We can all sleep easy tonight.
Except no. This problem is not solved.
How do we know this? Let’s look more closely at what our hero did to solve this problem: they introduced a bill.
Last Congress, 19,315 bills were introduced. A bill being introduced is a key first step in a long, gray hair inducing journey.
But the more important number here is 2%. That’s how many of those 19,315 bills became law.
Claiming victory for introducing a bill is like claiming you've climbed Everest when you get off the plane in Kathmandu. You are certainly closer to climbing Everest than if you were watching Frasier reruns in your living room. But you are many significant miles away from summiting.
Introducing a bill is a breeze. In the House, a Representative walks onto the House floor and drops their bill in a very fine wooden box called the hopper. In the Senate, a Senator walks onto the Senate floor and gives their bill to the clerk, who handles legislative and administrative operations.
Passing a bill is no picnic. After a bill is introduced, it’s referred to the Committee that oversees that bill’s issue. And Committees are where most bills go to die. Committees don’t have capacity to hold hearings, markups (where they amend - literally, mark up - the bill), and vote on the hundreds of bills that get referred to them.
So they don’t.
There are a few exceptions to this. If a politician who introduces a bill also sits on the Committee that oversees that bill, they have some heft to get the bill moving through the Committee process. But they have to want to use that heft. Sometimes they do. Often, they don’t.
Or a politician who doesn’t sit on the Committee must roll up their sleeves, crack their knuckles, and move a mountain or two to get the Committee to pay attention to their bill. When I was a staffer in Congress, I did that with my boss. It is diabolically hard.
A few more messaging tactics in political ads:
An ad features someone challenging an incumbent: I’ll do all the things the incumbent can’t or won’t, they say.
You can promise the moon and all its cheese, but Congress rewards seniority. The more senior you are, the more power you have to get your bills passed, projects funded, calls answered; in short, the more power you have to get what you want.
If that challenger wins, they will be a newbie in a chamber that favors the old-timers. How much actual power will they have to do what they say? How do they plan to accrue power?
A political ad features an incumbent talking up their accomplishments: I supported this bill and that bill!
Good on you. But did those bills become law? It’s easy to support a bill you know is on a fast track to nowhere - which is 98% of bills. It’s harder to support a bill that could actually become the law of the land. Because then if folks don’t like it, you’re on the hook.
One of the core promises of American democracy is that we get to have a say in how we’re governed. We are in a midterm year where politicians up and down the ballot will be auditioning to represent us – to represent our voice in the laws that govern our lives.
So when a political ad - or politician - makes righteous claims about what they’ve done or will do, it’s useful to look under the hood of that claim to see if it’s more style or substance.
Legislatures the country over have more than enough show ponies. What we need - what you deserve - are work horses. And with just a bit of homework, we can usually tell what kind of equine we’re dealing with.