A Serious Proposal That Will Never Be Seriously Considered

Last Wednesday (August 24), this blurb appeared in Politico (specifically, in the Politico Huddle):

A SERIOUS PROPOSAL FOR THE GRAND DUKE OF SUPERCOMMITTEEDOM – “if they’re serious about reaching compromise, they should borrow someone like Dan Rainey, COS for the National Mediation Board. Non-political, skilled in the art of negotiation, and a history of results at the bargaining table,” writes Ted Philips, a legislative aide in Massachusetts.”

I’d be shocked if the Supercommittee invited any third party in to their discussions – they would only do that if there were a sincere desire to make a deal. I doubt very much that there is such a sincere desire, and I doubt very much that the discussion in the room will in any way resemble a standard dispute resolution process. Let’s just say that I don’t envision them spending a lot of time exploring common interests. That is not to say that I don’t think a deal is possible. On the contrary, I think it is quite possible, but as the result of political pressure on both sides, not as the result of a discussion guided by best practices in conflict resolution.

If the Supercommittee really wanted to work out a rational compromise, they might very well invite in a third party, but they certainly would not invite me, as brilliant as Ted may think I am. Instead, they would look for a high profile politician or ex-politician with enough personal clout to lean on the parties as a peer. Would that relationship yield a bad outcome? Not necessarily, but it certainly would rely on a process that is light years from the idealized mediation environment that we teach, and that we even try to deliver as third parties.