A Trip to Washington Inspires

My apologies for my brief break - I was travelling.

Even in the midst of a heated political campaign - where compromise and common sense are tough to find, one place should continue to inspire all Americans about their nation and their future. I was in Washington DC last weekend for the American Political Science Association meeting. I will post a blog about that shortly. Yet being in Washington still makes me feel good about our country and our future.

Almost a million people a year from all backgrounds still come to Washington to see the Constitution and the Lincoln Memorial and the other important sites. They come because they do not believe the cynicism that we see too often in Congress and in our political system. They don't care about attack ads, polls and political division. They come because they want to see what the promise of a representative democracy is about. They want to see the documents of our founding, and they want to salute our fallen at Arlington National Cemetery. I will take the optimism of a typical visitor to Washington DC anyday over the cold political calculations of too many of our political leaders.