Electile Dysfunction

Publishing a regional business magazine means focusing on, well, regional business. As a business owner in November of an election year, though, I don’t think I’m alone in sensing a cloud of trepidation over what’s coming, and out of my control.

Particularly frustrating this cycle has been the wholesale abandonment of any pretense that the media “informing” voters
is executing their responsibilities in a truly even-handed manner. The broadcast networks, major newspapers, even the Drudge Report have all implicitly—or explicity—declared their political affiliations. 

Donald Trump is no saint, but what’s happened in the closing days of this contest—turning the Trump-is-Hitler rhetoric up to 11—has already prompted two assassination attempts. Those media outlets  have been all too happy to “report” every new claim that someone with a proven track record as president would operate as a dictator in a second act.  No wonder the crazies are literally gunning for the guy.

That, friends, is pure and true election interference. And it’s not how journalism is supposed to work. When it comes to political affiliation, I’m generally agnostic. My vote goes to the candidate of either party whose value sets and policy prescriptions create a platform for business success. Not just mine, but for my community, the state that I love, and our nation as a whole.

One needn’t look far to see the depth of the division in the U.S. The stock market hit all-time highs this summer; many people with 401(k)s have enjoyed double-digit gains on their savings. Home prices are at record highs, as are incomes. More than a third of voters are satisfied.

But two-thirds believe that the country is on the wrong track. The factors that have a third of us believing that many things are in reasonably decent condition are also creating an America with two economies: One for the wealthiest among us, and one for a lower class and a middle class that seems to be dwindling before our eyes.

Whatever has happened in recent years hasn’t delivered for everyone equally. Not that it should, of course: Outcomes will never be equal in a society where merit stands for something.

As a business owner, it’s that lack of shared prosperity that nags at me. Conversations with other owners, our own in-house reporting on various business sectors, even the general vibe I get running a pair of markedly different business models, all tell me that business leaders are much more concerned about the direction of things than the major media outlets have been letting on. 

Now we have a presidential election unlike any other any living American has experienced: An ex-president trying to re-enter the White House after having been turned down by voters in the previous cycle, and an opponent who, as November approaches, has still never received the voting-booth endorsement of a single citizen.

I know I’m not alone when I look at the choices at the top of either ticket and ask myself, “Is this the best we can do?” I can probably think of two or three dozen Kansas City regional business executives to whom I’d rather entrust the reins of national power.

Irrespective of who wins, the implications for business are profound. Start with the costs you face to access capital at your own organization. Interest rates and inflation are absolutely killing most of us.

Business leaders and entrepreneurs understand that the regulatory goal posts will sway one way or another as political winds blow. We’re up to the task. We wouldn’t be in business today if we weren’t.

But even at a local level, we’re not immune to D.C. policy. Case in point: The national debt. I’m old enough to remember how media pundits suffered cases of the vapors when it hit $7 trillion under Ronald Reagan. Today, we’re looking at $34 trillion and counting.

It’s taken us 35 years, with both political parties changing seats at the White House and in Congress, to dig this hole. And Washington’s only solution seems to be grabbing a bigger shovel.

We’ve seen never-ending streams of (literally) he said/she said with the name-calling and insults. Has either candidate articulated a specific plan to reduce federal spending and allow more capital to flow into the private sector with reduced interest rates? The closest we’ve come to that is Trump’s pledge to let Elon Musk take a crack at the federal budget, the way he laid into staffing at X. We may see how that plays out.

Look. I get it: Taxes have to be paid, bridges have to be built, a military has to be supplied, we have to make good on promises to retirees and the needy.

But I don’t see why our politics can’t focus instead on accountability and responsible management of financial resources, rather than middle-school playground taunts.

And I don’t see why a system that can produce so many intelligent, gifted, inspirational figures from the business world can’t give us a slate of candidates who can inspire us, not divide us, and restore a solid foundation for everyone to follow Jefferson’s checklist for securing life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

So cast your votes on Nov. 5. And may God help us survive this next term.