Andy Kim Gives Me Hope

The Politicians May Be Catching Up to the People

Asbury Park, June 9, 2023, 6:52 pm.

On Thursday, February 19, I went to a meeting with Andy Kim, who is one of the two senators that the voters of New Jersey have sent to Congress. I've always liked him - I've been following him for quite a while - but I'd never met him. He was holding a town hall in Asbury Park, where my connections have become oddly deep - this has something to do with the Jersey Girl I married. Anyway, two friends picked us up - we tumbled into the back seat - and off we were to St. Stephen's over on the west side of Asbury Park. This is a simply beautiful new church on Springwood Avenue in the historically black part of Asbury. There was a good crowd - it turns out people had come from all parts of the state. Lois's friend Kristen Foca, who is currently Senator Kim's acting state director, greeted us warmly, and soon I was shaking hands with Senator Kim.

It turns out that Senator Kim has held 92 town halls in New Jersey as a congressman and senator. I had always had the impression that senators like to hang out with bank presidents and corporate executives. Scoop Jackson used to be called the senator from Boeing. This evening was different, perhaps because Senator Kim had been a congressman before he became a senator. 

I was very impressed, from a technical point of view, with the structure of the town hall. The senator spoke for a while about issues that he was concentrating on. Then he handed the podium to Kay Harris, head of our local historical society, who, it being Black History Month, spoke about black history in Asbury Park (it's quite a history). Then the senator came back and spoke some more on issues, and then he took questions. He did something I've never seen before. He asked for two questions. He wrote them down in a notebook. And then he responded. And then he asked for two more questions. I've never seen this before, and I think it's brilliant on a number of levels. 

But let's not get buried in technique. One of the questions was why he voted to make Kristi Noem secretary of Homeland Security. He said, "You deserve an answer," and he wrote in his notebook, and in due course he answered.

He said that he had hoped to establish a lifeline to Noem. Looking back, this may sound a bit odd, but the normal way of doing business in Washington is to open lines of communication with people who can help you. And he knew that, with or without his vote, she was going to be confirmed. 

It was pretty obvious, at the beginning of the second Trump administration, that the ordinary rules of doing business had become irrelevant. Many voters saw this. But it's clear, looking back, that much of the commentariat did not see it. And the political class was still clinging to its familiar ways. 

Then Senator Kim said something interesting. He said, "I made a mistake." And he explained his thinking and why, in retrospect, it was wrong. A very honest, candid man. At the end he received thunderous applause.

Vaclav Havel wrote, years ago, that the politicians often lag behind the people, because they are so wound up in their political world, while the people are living in the real world.

But here's one politician who has caught up. And I'm very happy.

See also How the Dam Breaks.