Burnout threatens the quality of politics nationally and in Minnesota

The retirement of U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, a Texas Republican, has triggered justified anxiety about smart, hardworking people bowing out of politics.

Politics has gotten too nasty and too all-consuming, even as elected officials — especially in Washington — seem to spend less and less time solving actual public policy problems.

Every person's situation is different, but you can also see this burnout here at home.

David FitzSimmons was campaign manager and then chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer. In 2018, he helped Republicans eke out a victory for U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn.

He hasn't ruled out helping someone in 2020, but right now he's enjoying a quiet life at home, helping the family agriculture business.

Can you blame him?

It's not clear what the solution is.

Shut down Twitter? Mandatory bipartisan cocktails after the legislative workday?

The two parties are locked in a death struggle so that compromise is increasingly seen as capitulating to evil. Every loss is viewed as apocalyptic — see "The Flight 93 Election" — which allows people to rationalize almost any behavior. If losing means the end of all your cherished values, what wouldn't you do to prevent it?

Some are quitting before they even really get started.

State Sen. Scott Jensen, R-Chaska, who was elected in 2016, announced he's not running again.

The physician-lawmaker wants to spend more time with his wife and grandchildren. (Again, can you blame him?)

Jensen was a favorite of many Capitol observers because he is smart, candid and unpredictable. He would cross his caucus, and then change his mind over high-profile issues like guns and marijuana. Although in his first term, he managed to inject himself into the most contentious issues, like pharmaceutical regulation and conversion therapy.

He recently gave a remarkably frank interview to Peter Callaghan of MinnPost about his decision not to run again. "I'll be very honest: This is a really bizarre place," Jensen said.

Jensen related to Callaghan an incident in which he got into a debate with another GOP senator about how prescriptions are issued and filled. His colleague said he knew better — because he had spoken with a pharmacist in his district. Remember, Jensen is a doctor. "I thought, I can't be having this conversation," Jensen said.

Lawmakers will forgo good data as they craft policy, instead relying on anecdotes, interest group and partisan pressure, and popular opinion, Jensen says.

It's worth noting that the American health care system isn't always rational, is it?

Still, what Jensen says is probably true.

On the other hand: Demo-cracy is not experts crafting policy in a cloister. It's different groups fighting and exerting their will through assertive civic action.

If Jensen has a better way, maybe he should stay and make it happen.

J. Patrick Coolican 651-925-5042 Twitter: @jpcoolican patrick.coolican@startribune.com