The State of the Union this year was what it usually is: rhetoric for viewers at home and political warnings and threats for those lucky enough to attend. However, the preponderance of politically active and politically important attendees this year was apparent. The only people on the guest list were those with money or those who were brought in to make some sort of political point.
Several of these guests were political prods both for and against Obamacare. Speaker of the House John Boehner invited a businessman who is vocally anti-Affordable Care Act — he is vehemently opposed to Obamacare even though his business is not required to upgrade its existing plan. On the other hand, the President invited a lot of individuals with feel-good stories that reflect the flip side of the Affordable Care Act in terms of its provision restricting the denial of insurance based on preexisting conditions as well as other guests who benefited from some of its provisions.
These examples highlight the need for more ordinary people at public events, and to accomplish this, there should be a requirement for events like the State of the Union or the presidential inauguration that some percentage of the guest list be lottery positions for which any citizen is eligible to apply. Rather than the usual system, in which congressional members bring guests, a lottery would allow any American a chance to attend a public, political event. Such a change would promote the ideals of equality and political egalitarianism that have come under pressure recently as a result of the barrage of corporate and personal political spending.
This is the one group that is notably absent amidst the present and former political leaders, those who bankroll them and their special guests there to make a political point: the unexceptional, average Americans everyone claims to support. Where are the salt of the earth, blue collar men and women whom the right claims to represent? Where are significant numbers of minimum wage, low skill fast food employees for whom the left grinds out minimum wage increases?
I am tired of watching big public events filled with government leaders and the citizens who finance them. The blatant rubbing of elbows in such public spectacle is a spit in the face of the intent upon which our democracy was constructed. Public spectacle has become a place where you bring your friends and “important” people to watch some government event to impress them or make a political point.
Such a symbolic move would signal to many who have lost or are losing faith in government of, by and for the people. If this maxim is true, then it is not a stretch to believe ordinary Americans deserve a proverbial seat at the table. Even though there are no real decisions made at such events, it is the symbolism of their presence that will matter. The presence of lottery winners would provide a sort of silent lobbying for the common man. The mere presence of ordinary men and women would break the bubble of Washington and would remind politicians of who their real bosses are. The symbolism behind this action comes from the equalization of the rights of citizenship and the rights acquired from affluence.
Creating such a percentage system would increase public involvement both directly through physical presence as well as through an increased viewership because of the presence of a more diverse audience. The last State of the Union had the second lowest viewership since 1993. This change would increase interest and hopefully public involvement in the political process in general. It is impossible to judge the tangible effects of such a change — but the symbolism behind the move matters.
Sawan Patel is an Opinion columnist for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at s.patel@cavalierdaily.com.
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