Promise Keepers

Why is it that when you're promised something by a candidate for office in exchange for your vote, and then you demand the now-elected official follow through on their promise, you're the bad guy?

This is a weird phenomenon that happens in Washington, D.C. and state capitols around the country. Throughout a campaign, we're often asked to donate time and money and votes to politicians because they support us and the issues we care about. Candidates make a big deal about caring for those issues during the political campaign season. Yet, once the politician is in office, keeping those promises somehow becomes bad politics.

We're told that the time isn't right. That our promise might use up political chits better devoted to more important promises. Or that our promise is controversial and might damage the politician in the public eye. When we ask politicians to keep their promise, when we criticize politicians for actively undermining their promise, when we demand that politicians not water down their promise, we are accused of undermining the politician's agenda.

Weren't we told that our issues were their agenda?