Less than two weeks ago, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told her island nation the following:
“I believe that leading a country is the most privileged job anyone could ever have, but also one of the more challenging. You cannot and should not do it unless you have a full tank plus a bit in reserve for those unexpected challenges. I know what this job takes. And I know that I no longer have enough in the tank to do it justice.”
I don’t know whether Jacindamania is curable, but let’s hope New Zealand’s new prime minister, Chris Hipkins, isn’t running on empty.
Closer to home, all this tank talk reminded me of Michael Dukakis. It also brought me right back to Jacinda’s fantastic commencement speech last year at Harvard. She mentioned gun control, abortion, democracy, social media—and kindness. She received multiple standing ovations.
Apparently, however, Jacinda morphed into a woman on the verge of burnout—hugely relatable to everyone I know, but perhaps not to certain American women in power. While I’m delighted Ardern had the courage to quit on her own terms, other women in politics might consider following her lead. For your consideration, my kindest suggestions:
- Marjorie Taylor Greene. Last December, she said that, had she led the January 6 Insurrection, “we would have won,” and people would have been “armed.” Thank God for small miracles, but let us pray for the gentlewoman from Georgia. The kindest thing I can say about her is best summarized in the famous words of former vice president Dan Quayle: “What a waste it is to lose one’s mind. Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is.”
- Lauren Boebert. Last October, she said, “Women are the lesser vessel and we need masculinity in our lives to balance that, that so-called weakness.” Prior to this, failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake took to calling herself “Trump in a dress” on the apparently cross-dressing-friendly campaign trail. Suffice it to say if Marjorie Taylor Greene challenged Boebert to a lesser vessel duel, this damsel in distress would have no objection.
- Elise Stefanik. Her old headmistress Caroline Mason said of her, “She basically abandoned her own core values for a man who had no core values.” Sad, like an empty vessel.
- Sarah Huckabee Sanders. She’s still burning facts and quit holding press conferences long before leaving her post as White House press secretary. But her governorship in Arkansas is still in its first trimester, so she could certainly quit before anyone detected a gubernatorial heartbeat.
- Nikki Haley. Her resume includes an impressive history of quitting: first as governor of South Carolina; then from Boeing’s board of directors; and most recently, as U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Of course, Nikki “Quitting” Haley seems to lack the je ne sais quoi that Jacinda so effortlessly lives and breathes.
Of course, if luck be a lady, Jacinda Ardern will heed Stephen Colbert’s direct appeal to come to America to run in 2024 so Haley doesn’t have to. Everyone’s tank will be full, and the Jacinda effect will continue to bloom and grow.
