How Real Leaders Lead

The more I listen to Senator John Fetterman, the more I believe he is really an Independent, wrapped in a Democrat blanket. He must have joined the Democrat Party when it was still a sane, normal, America-loving Party, before it went off the rails after the beginning of the twenty-first century. You know, before Schumer and Pelosi and Sanders and Obama took the reins.

He is a reasonable politician, more so than Manchin or Sinema, who also fought for American ideals. They may have been center-left, but compromised when they saw it was better to get some of the fresh bread rather than demand the whole loaf, at the cost of getting the stale bread that nobody wanted.

On January 10, I wrote a commentary called Fetterman Speaks His Mind - Again, where I praised his ability to see the bigger picture and state what he felt on several issues. I have written about his openness to negotiate and compromise several other times, as well, standing against the wishes of his Party “leaders”.

Shortly after meeting with President-Elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, as reported in The Hill today, Trump lavished Fetterman with praise, calling him “a fascinating man,” distinguishing him from most Democrats who are still keeping their distance.

In the same article, it was reported by other Democrats and Democrat strategists the obvious changes about Senator Fetterman which are causing so many such consternation.

“There’s no telling with any certainty what Fetterman’s motivations are. I do political analysis, not psychoanalysis,” said Norman Solomon, a progressive strategist and founder of the activist network RootsAction. “But clearly, he has been moving rightward.”

It is refreshing to see any politician buck the system and stand up for what he believes. Maybe that is why so many Republicans and Democrats also don’t get or like Trump.

He, too, rebelled against the norm. And that is why Trump sees him as someone he can work with, as a kindred spirit. And Fetterman seems to gravitate to Trump’s personality very well.

In the end, isn’t THAT what real leaders do? Find the common ground to get things done for ALL of us?

These two leaders are showing us in modern day what the Founders envisioned. Not the petty party politics which dominate our lives.

But rather, respecting differences of opinion, and to work for the common good for all of us. THAT is what LEADERS do.

Thank you, John Fetterman and Donald Trump for showing us how leaders lead.