By Doug Mainwaring

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Illustration: Govs. Christie, Jindal, Brewer by Alexander Hunter for The Washington Times

Prophecies are sometimes fulfilled in unexpected, mysterious ways. During his campaign, Candidate Barack Obama promised that if he was elected, a new era of leadership in government would be es- tablished – one that would match his soaring campaign rhetoric. After fits and starts since his 2009 inauguration, we finally are witnessing inspiring leadership come to the fore.

Yet the era of excellence in executive management emanates not from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., but from a triumvirate of governors from New Jersey, Arizona and Louisiana. More than any other men and women on the political scene today, they are giving voice to concerned, engaged Americans, who have rallied together under the banner of the Tea Party movement. They have become the iconic American political heroes of 2010.

The actions and inactions of the White House and Congress regarding issues such as the economy, health care reform, the security of our borders and the ongoing oil-spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico have diminished their standing and present a stark contrast to the leadership skills and personalities of the three chief executives. In fact, these governors stand out as champions not only because they are tackling difficult issues, but more because they have been forced to govern against the tide of failing, ill-advised policies and approaches of Washington.

Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, a Republican, is achieving what most considered to be the impossible: He is reining in runaway government spending in a hugely liberal state. Mr. Christie is remarkable because his post-inaugural actions have lived up to his campaign promises. As he undertakes the herculean task of rescuing his state from the fiscal disaster sinking California and his neighbors in New York, Mr. Christie does not fear detractors. While the president likes to roll up his sleeves to deliver campaign-like speeches with the appearance of hard work, Mr. Christie rolled up his sleeves on the day he took office to clean up his state’s financial mess.

Mr. Christie said it best in mid-March during the release of his budget plan. “Today, we are fulfilling the promise of a smaller government that lives within its means,” Mr. Christie told a joint legislative session. “The defenders of the status quo have already begun to yell and scream. They will try to demonize me. They will seek to divide us rather than unite us. But even they know in their hearts, if not yet in their minds – it is time for a change.” Mr. Christie is doing the dirty work that most politicians don’t have the stomach to face. As Congress, the White House and other states continue to insist on spending more while debt mounts, Mr. Christie stands out as a wise steward against the backdrop of profligate government spending.

Republican Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona has bravely taken a stand, filling the gaping breach created by the federal government’s refusal to deal with border security. Faced with a huge population of illegal immigrants (estimated at half a million people) and a porous, unsecured border with Mexico, Arizona enacted a law that will empower police to address the presence of immigrants here illegally while avoiding racial profiling.

President Obama sided with Mexican President Felipe Calderon in condemning the new law. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. and others decried the legislation without reading it, demonstrating a staggering disconnect from the American people. A majority admires Arizona’s take-charge approach, and many wish their own states would adopt similar laws. According to the latest Quinnipiac poll, 85 percent of Americans view illegal immigration as a serious problem. Despite overwhelmingly negative publicity from the media, commentators and politicians regarding Arizona’s law, more than 50 percent agree with it, while just 31 percent disapprove. More than three-quarters of Americans surveyed think that boycotting Arizona over its immigration policy is a bad idea. While the national government seems to be deaf to the voices of a majority of Americans on this issue, Mrs. Brewer seems to hear loud and clear. The eyes of the nation are cast on her rather than any leader in Washington.

The BP oil spill continues to contaminate the Gulf of Mexico, threatening a fragile ecosystem on our southern shores. Millions have stared in disbelief at their television screens, watching as the viscous black fluid blows into the Gulf waters as if shot out of a rocket engine.

Louisiana’s Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal has shown admirable leadership from the disaster’s outset. Compared to the White House’s hollow claims of being on the job since “Day One,” Mr. Jindal has been working diligently to turn back the invasion of the unwanted oil from the site of the destroyed BP rig located about 50 miles off the Louisiana coast. An unresponsive federal government stymied his solutions, failing to deliver timely approval to his state’s request to construct man-made barriers to halt the steady flow of oil toward the shore.

While Washington bureaucrats pondered liabilities and worked political calculations before delivering a decision, precious time was wasted. Now families around the Gulf will suffer economic and social consequences for years to come. Mr. Jindal has emerged as the true leader.

Candidate Obama in 2008 promised the most transparent White House in history, characterized by “hope and change,” rejecting “business as usual” in Washington. He also made what is a borderline messianic promise: “I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on earth. This was the moment – this was the time – when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves and our highest ideals.”

He spoke in the voice of a prophet, and the test of any prophecy is whether or not it comes true. It is, but the prophecy is not about him. Rather, it is about the one whose unfortunate actions inspired others to rise up and shepherd the nation. These three governors – Mr. Christie, Mrs. Brewer and Mr. Jindal – represent the best America has to offer. They are ordinary people acting in extraordinary ways for the sake of the citizens they serve. They truly are generals waging battle on the front lines, stepping into the gap left by an often absent, incompetent federal government.

The American people also deserve credit for rising up to show Washington how to govern. Over the past year they have shown themselves to be wiser, more knowledgeable and more capable than their D.C.-based representatives. They also have shown themselves to be ready, willing and able not only to do battle in 2010, but to participate for as long as it takes to set our country on a sure footing for the future.

Formerly politically uninvolved Americans, driven by grave concern for what they see happening in their country, have coalesced into the Tea Party movement. Many millions existed in isolation across this land before Rick Santelli’s famous rant on CNBC in early 2009. As such, Mr. Santelli, too, has played the role of a prophet. Like John the Baptist, he was “a voice crying out in the wilderness” on that cold February morning. Unlike the words, shouted in the desert of Judea, Mr. Santelli’s were broadcast on live TV from the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade and have been repeated and venerated continuously through the miracle of the Internet. Millions owe Mr. Santelli a debt of gratitude for his spontaneous, inspiring prophetic declaration.

This vast coalition of concerned Americans, consisting of members of the Tea Party movement as well as a huge periphery of other libertarians, conservatives and middle-of-the-road Americans, embraces a simple prescription to restore the United States to health: fiscal responsibility, constitutionally limited government and free markets. These are the antidotes to America’s grave condition, which wise, successful American leaders now fearlessly embrace, reflecting our very best selves and our highest ideals.

Doug Mainwaring is a member of the National Capital Tea Party Patriots.