Esquire - Profiles in Congress: Representative Adam Kinzinger

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By Mark Warren

For an article in our November issue, which will be out next week, on the crippling dysfunction in Washington, I interviewed ninety members of Congress -- from both houses, both parties, across the ideological spectrum -- to find out what they think the problem is. Contrary to what you might expect of an institution with an 8 percent approval rating, I discovered many of them to be capable people of good faith who spoke with surprising candor about being stuck in a dreadful system. Some were particularly articulate or revealing about the state of things in Congress, and I will be writing individual posts about them between now and the election.

First up: Representative Adam Kinzinger, Republican, Illinois. Rare is the Republican who is as harshly critical of people and groups on his own side as Kinzinger of Illinois. A Republican who is this honest about big-spending conservative groups who can do him real harm is either heedless or very brave. Count Kinzinger among the latter.

He is thirty-six, an Iraq veteran, a major in the Air Force Reserve, and a Republican in his second term in the House. He went to high school in a town called Normal, and once saved a woman who was having a knife held to her throat by a deranged man. So he's taken risks in his life, and wasn't entirely unprepared for the disasters of Washington.

"I knew it was going to be frustrating. I didn't go in there with a perception that I alone was gonna be the guy that changed the institution. And I knew from my experience in the military that to get things done, you have to work together as a team," he says. "I think one of the biggest difficulties, for me, is just realizing how hard it is to work as a team. We're a nation that asks 18-, 19-, 20-year-olds to go to war, to die for freedom, and to die on behalf of their country, or at least be willing to. And I think we have to have more people that are willing to give their careers for the same cause. Sometimes, people will say, "Oh, you know, I know that I need to vote yes, but I just don't want to have to go home and explain that I'm worried about a primary.' Which has probably been the bigger issue lately. I think we need a lot more people who understand that their actions in Congress have an impact beyond their reelection. That, you know, we're building a country. We're continuing to sow the seeds of history, if you will, and, and define what our country's gonna look like. And I think people need to see that longer-term view instead of, you know, just worrying about what their job's gonna be in a year.

"Something that I've experienced on our side--and I think it happens on both sides--is that there's an industry in Washington that makes money on conflict. Some of these outside groups--you know, your Club for Growth types, and your, you know, Heritage Action [for America], and your FreedomWorks…back during the government shutdown, FreedomWorks was a big pusher of, "Hey, shut down the government and defund Obamacare.' But yet, during the government shutdown, they started this thing called Defund the GOP and the Defund the GOP process was saying, "Hey, whatever money you give to the Republican party, let's defund them, too, and, instead write that check to us, because we're the real fighters for conservatism.' And, I'm sure it probably worked, to an extent, for "em. But that was in the middle of us doing exactly what they had requested we do, which was shutting down the government to defund Obamacare. So, you know, it just gives an example of, "Let's find a way to create conflict, to create problems here.'

"I'm willing to give my career to do the right thing. If we have more people that come into office with that perspective, that actually catches. I mean…that's a contagious thing. I've seen it among my colleagues that, you know, all of a sudden, say, "Well, I'm not gonna worry about a primary. I'm gonna do the right thing. And the primary's gonna fix itself.' The other thing is: We've gotta bring big attention to the fact that Club for Growth, for instance, came after nine or ten of us--and [Aaron] Schock was one, and I was one of the other ones--with this program called Primary My Congressman! And, you know, the theory was, "We'll give an opponent to these guys, and then we'll put a bunch of money behind them, and beat 'em, and make an example of 'em. They went 0-for-9, or 0-for-10. They didn't win a single one. And so, if that message gets out that, look, you can be a conservative, be a governing conservative, and still win your primary, I think it'll embolden a lot of people who really want to do the right thing, but are sometimes scared of it."

In addition to the powerful groups that can recruit and fund primary challengers for Republicans deemed insufficiently conservative, Congressman Kinzinger has also not been afraid to take on the single greatest source of congressional paralysis -- the Tea Party caucus in his own party.

"I've talked to a few of those [Tea Party] folks, one-on-one, and, you know, they think I'm out here to destroy our party. You know, it's an amazing thing. Look: The reality is … I think the most ardent, left-wing Democrat wants America to be successful. I want America to be successful. And the most hardcore right-wing Republican wants America to be successful. We just see that process differently, and that's what politics is for. It's for people that see it differently to somehow come together and govern. It's not to stand up and say, you know, "These people all want to destroy America.' Nobody in Congress wants to destroy America."

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