The idea of campaigning for a job with a goal of diminishing its importance has always confused me, but that's exactly what Republican hopeful Rick Perry has pledged to do.
"I'll promise you this," said the governor of Texas while announcing his run for the presidency, "I'll work every day to try to make Washington D.C. as inconsequential to your life as I can."
While recent polling data show the government's popularity is at an all-time low, Perry's refusal to see the positive potential of the presidential office should be a red flag for voters.
When Barack Obama became president three years ago, he represented a beacon of hope, promising to change a governnment that many saw as corrupt and crippled by its unwillingness to put the good of the country ahead of the good of the major political parties.
Heading into the 2012 election it's safe to say that voters are now disillusioned by the dim realities of politics. President Obama's inspirational "Yes We Can" has become a gloomy reminder of unrealized potential.
Republicans criticize Democratic leadership for proposing large, expensive bills aimed at rescuing the American economy, and while doing all they can to convince Americans our economic woes would disappear if the government would only remove itself from the utopian society it corrupted.
Forget about public education and paved roads. Scrap that pesky fire department and its emergency responders with their obnoxiously loud sirens. Who needs access to clean water or reliable electricity? Yeah, right.
While hopefully everyone sees the importance of these public services, there's a fundamental misconception in America of what the government does and how it impacts our lives.
Perhaps this truth is best captured by the angry man in South Carolina who said, "keep your government hands off my Medicare." Medicare is, of course, a government program.
A recent Gallup poll reported "49 percent of Americans believe the federal government has become so large and so powerful that it poses an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens."
That's the sort of unfounded fear politicians should try to allay, not encourage.
Supporters of the idea that Washington has become too big will cite examples of a distant past where men and women took initiative and ran their own lives without government support or guidance. But for all their nostalgic reminiscing, no president they elect is going to change the reality of today's social landscape.
The United States of America is home to over 300 million people with different backgrounds, interests and goals. Communities in America are best characterized best as constantly changing: it's rare for a family to stay in the same spot for multiple generations.
The idea that the people can do all that the government currently does through community relationships and voluntary association is as logical as the belief that the government is trying to sabotage our country.
When Rick Perry claims he's trying to become president to reduce the power of the job, he's being disingenuous.
He's playing off of strong anti-government sentiment in hope of garnering enough support to secure the Republican nomination and, ultimately, the White House.
That strategy might prove to be as effective as Obama's promise of impossible change, but it's not going to lead to a better America.
Washington matters, and we need leaders who will embrace that truth and will work to ensure that it matters in a good way.