By Cecilia Keehan

David Broder, national correspondent for The Washington Post, whose twice-weekly column covers a broad aspect of U.S. political life, was in Los Altos Oct. 1 to share his views on “The Political Scene: November and Beyond” with members of the Morning Forum.

Describing himself as an incurable optimist about the United States, he confessed that he once worried that the country was spinning out of control. But that was in 1968, when Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy had been assassinated, and demonstrations and urban riots became common occurrences. The country was mired and divided by the war in Vietnam.

Broder said that the country’s reaction to 9/11 left him with no doubt about the capacity of the American people and the nation. Broder, who had been on a listening tour of the country prior to his Los Altos detour, said that there was an unerring instinct in the American people for making good decisions for themselves and their country. He credited the country’s founders for having established an extraordinary government with three branches and the formation of a two-party system that stabilizes, channels and creates policy.

He said 9/11 doesn’t feel as though it’s another Pearl Harbor. Life goes on as before, with the level of anxiety perhaps a bit higher. Although the country is at war, he said, we don’t know how we stand on that war.

Because elements of Al-Qaida and other terrorist groups are probably still operating, Broder believes that President Bush means it when he says that he intends to go to war to bring about a change in the government of Iraq. The president is serious about his timetable, and it is likely the war will begin in winter when the climate is more hospitable to an invading army, Broder observed. The president is confident that Congress will give approval to the use of force.

The public supports the idea that the United States may have to have a war, but if its allies oppose a war, the public will be divided, Broder said. Ousting Saddam Hussein is one thing, he said; finding a leader is another. We need to have a plan after a successful military campaign, he cautioned. Since the president sets the agenda, other issues - such as the economy and health care - will not have a spotlight while war is on the agenda. Broder believes that Congress is close to being invisible at this time.

The correspondent is encouraged by the people now seeking political office. He finds that the newest group of politicians are, as a whole, better than the people who served when he started his journalistic career 40 years ago.

Today’s politicians are better educated and more motivated, he said, unlike politicians of an earlier era, who were followers of the party’s leadership and political bosses. The new group comes in unfettered. Today’s politicians, especially in the House of Representatives, are interesting people with interesting views. They come with agendas and fresh ideas and tend to vote their views and not always the party’s, he noted.

Regarding the Nov. 5 election, Broder finds indifference mixed with disdain for politics and wonders why there is this turnoff. At the national level, the House of Representatives has become a non-election since the congressional lines have been drawn to ensure the election of incumbents. In California, he said, there would be no contested congressional seat except for Gary Condit’s.

Cecilia Keehan reports on the Morning Forum for the Town Crier.