A year later, it's a barren land

I'm sitting in the Senate Press Gallery, looking out at a Washington street that's as empty as I feel.

I remember a year ago, almost to the minute, when I was nearly stampeded by throngs of crowds out to see President Obama's inauguration. I think about the promise of that day, and how America seemed to be changing for the better.

It didn't matter if you were Democrat or Republican - which I am neither. You had to feel something good about a black man being elected president. You had to feel something good about change, much like many people felt in 1980, when Ronald Reagan was elected.

Back then, in 1980, just as it was (and still is) in 2008, our country was in rut. As silly as this sounds, it didn't matter if Reagan's policies were good or bad for the country.

For many, hearing Reagan's strong and powerful voice was as exciting as seeing Obama project an image of equality and opportunity. In both, you had a feeling that America's image had changed for the better.

But now, as I look out at the street, the positive feelings are only fleeting. I can now only think about what was lost, or what could be lost, especially after the Democrats lost their 60-seat majority last night.

In the background, I can hear Sen. John McCain railing about how health care brought down the Democratic candidate for Ted Kennedy's Massachusetts seat, leading to Republican Scott Brown's election. He's probably right, but I still believe it wasn't the policy that was the problem.

It was the execution, and it was the leadership.

Millions of people stand to remain uninsured, and those who are insured are nearly certain to face rising co-pays for medication and doctor's visits, largely because the man who promised to bring us help couldn't capitalize on his potential to inspire.

People with mental illness stand to pay $50, or maybe even $100 for a bottle of anti-depressants because the man who promised to bring us help couldn't find a way to craft a vision that people understood, or even liked.

I remember Reagan getting Congress to pass tax cuts in the early 1980s, and doing it in a way that, perhaps, should be described in whatever textbooks are out there that have this theme: "How to be a successful politician."

Ten years before Ross Perot did it, Reagan went to the people. He got on the television, pre-empted prime-time programming, pulled out pie charts and showed everybody why, he felt, tax cuts would save the economy.

Whether the tax cuts were effective or not is another argument. His politics were genius, and he articulated a vision for the country on those nights that inspired thousands, maybe millions of people to call their congressional representatives and get them to pass the tax cuts.

He did it, even though the policy wasn't very popular. By 1984, however, it was very popular, and Reagan was elected in a landslide.

If there is any hope left for saving health care, the man who inspired many like Reagan did 28 years before needs to understand what the 40th president and former actor knew, and knew well: You can't sell the policy without the politics.

You can't live up to your potential if you can't learn to lead.