On May 29, 2013, Colin Fletcher, writer for the examiner.com website, wrote an article entitled: Gov. Christie performed his job with class and dignity. Fletcher was impressed with Gov. Christie’s cordiality towards Pres. Obama when he revisited the Jersey shore again, when, seven months ago Super-storm Sandy severely punished the famous coastline.

The question is whether or not Governor Christie’s warmth and geniality is the real thing and represents a prototype of things to come in the world of politics whereby the chasm between the Democrats and the Republicans disappears, and where “politicians from both sides still could work together as the Founding Fathers envisioned in order to improve the lives of their fellow Americans.”

Fletcher rightly states “Governors need to be assured that they can pick up the phone and reach the president, and he will deploy the necessary assets to their states.” I believe this interplay between the states and the federal government, where the federal government comes to the aid of the states that need their assistance is what this country should be all about. It represents America at its best.

As Fletcher rightly suggests, many readers of his article might say that Gov. Christie’s affectionate welcome of Pres. Obama’s presence, were, “less than pure.” The reason that is suggested is because Gov. Christie is a Republican governor of a “Democratic leaning state,” which “allows him the latitude to further improve his standing by embracing Obama.”

If Gov. Christie chooses to run for president in 2016, as I anticipate he will choose to do, it will then be determined whether or not his warm overtures to President Obama’s two visits to his New Jersey shores in the year 2013 was a political sham or not. If it’s not, it will be determined through his actions by his ability to be able to change the political climate in Washington by his getting the two major parties to learn to compromise and, as a result, pass legislation that benefits both sides of the aisle.

The epitome of good governance is whether or not our politicians can emulate the statesmanship qualities of our Founding Fathers. They were indeed an elite group. What made them special was not their intelligence, wealth or privilege, but their character. They understood what it meant to be a politician. Or more specifically, to be a statesman. For they emulated all the qualities I mentioned in my recently published book.

In my treatise What Would Our Founding Fathers Say?: How Today’s Leaders Have Lost Their Way,  I discuss the traits all statesmen and stateswomen must have in common to be provided with that singular distinction of ‘greatness’ that many politicians strive for, but few are able to attain. All statespersons should have integrities that closely approximate that of what our Founding Fathers possessed.

They should show empathy, hence, compassion, and be other centered, so that they’re willing to put aside their selfish interests for the good of the country. They should embrace our Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights as our country’s charter or Bible, realizing any political decision must conform to those three revered documents.

Because our government has been hijacked by our political parties, and for that reason, our politicians  consistently serve their parties rather than the general citizenry whom they pledged to serve and protect. That being the case, even under the best of circumstances, where our hypothetical president, Gov. Christie, has done everything right, he will still fall short of providing our country with the kind of government that serves all the people in a way congruent with what we mean when we talk about good statesmanship. In other words, it’s a problem with the number of likeminded politicians who support “President” Christie’s political philosophy both in mind and spirit. For if there’s not enough of those kinds of statespersons to further the “president’s agenda,” a positive change worthy of note will not occur to make a difference.

In my treatise, I not only criticize our system of government, but I also suggest what may seem like a  sea change in what we need to do for effective governance to take place, when really, it involves instituting a few much-needed amendments to the Constitution to fix our current broken system of government. This is all done within the constraints of constitutional law.