OPINION:
On Sunday evening, White House counselor — and mainstay of President Trump’s core inner circle — Kellyanne Conway announced she would be leaving the White House at the end of August. Her husband, George Conway, a prominent corporate attorney and co-founder of Trump opposition group The Lincoln Project, also tweeted he would be stepping down from organizational responsibilities (and Twitter!) and taking personal time off to focus on family.
As Mrs. Conway put it, “I will be transitioning from the White House at the end of this month. George is also making changes. We disagree about plenty but we are united on what matters most: the kids For now, and for my beloved children, it will be less drama, more mama.”
The details are unnecessary here, but it seems like one of the Conway children was feeling acutely the public infighting between her parents. So they did what good parents do, and closed up shop so to speak, moving to concentrate on the things that matter in life: family.
Now, the Conways are obviously an atypical family. Both parents are high-visibility politicos, and their disagreements have at various times been publicly commented on, perhaps even inflamed, by the president. No other husband-wife has faced this much public comment on their relationship. The last famous political couple of opposing parties was James Carville and Mary Matalin. And there is just no comparison since the Carvilles seemed to enjoy every moment of the commentary show.
But though the Conways are unique given their limelight status, they are in a real sense representative of what we suspect many immediate and extended households are going through at the moment. That is to say, the politics of the moment is stressing familial bonds to the point of breaking. It is not uncommon to read, even in the popular press, stories of loved ones refusing to speak with each other, excommunications, hurt feelings, needless vitriol. And all because what, exactly?
Is it necessary, during a time of so much communal suffering on account of the coronavirus scourge, to turn our backs on each other because of differences in political candidates? Is it really worth not talking to a family member? Or is it better to table political conversation and attend to other matters, focusing on the foundations of our shared love in the first place?
Perhaps we should take heed of what the Conways are doing, even copy them. Perhaps now, more than ever, the love of family, at least within the confines of the home, should transcend politics.
And there are many easy ways to do this — it does not take withdrawing from one’s job or anything extreme. It can be as easy as proposing to a warring family member a joint project that benefits the community or someone in need. This simple, shared exercise puts politics to the side in favor of the human things. It teaches, through action, that our shared suffering on this planet is greater than who we vote for come November.
Long after these elections are won and lost, we will still be stuck with the same family. They are what’s permanent in our lives, not the etch-a-sketch messaging of any political party, left or right.
In her Sunday note, Mrs. Conway wrote, “For all of its political differences and cultural cleavages, this is a beautiful country filled with amazing people. The promise of America belongs to us all.”
We could not agree more. Please, let’s all of us, proceed in this spirit as November — and next year — draws near.
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