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What The Wizard of Oz Can Teach Us About Politics Today
- Scott Doggett
- Dec 4, 2025
- 4 min read
There’s a moment in The Wizard of Oz when Dorothy meets the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion... three characters who each believe they are missing something essential. One longs for a brain. One aches for a heart. One wishes for courage.
Lately, I’ve been wondering whether those characters hold up a mirror to the way America thinks about politics today.
Because the moment we hear “Republican,” “Democrat,” or “Independent,” many of us instantly form an opinion. We stop seeing people and start seeing categories. Labels replace listening. Affiliation replaces humanity.
It's the same problem we see in the workplace when leaders stop seeing individuals and start seeing job titles, budgets, or performance metrics. When labels come first, people become invisible.
And Washington is running on labels.
The Scarecrow: Democrats and the Heart
When Democrats are at their best, they lead with compassion. They champion the underdog, advocate for the marginalized, and fight for social programs intended to lift people up. Their decisions come from a sincere desire to help.
But like the Scarecrow, whose heart leads the way while the head lags behind, good intentions aren’t enough on their own.
Policy choices often overlook economic consequences. Raising taxes on businesses or high-income earners sounds noble in theory, but it can weaken job growth, reduce philanthropy, shrink development budgets, and ultimately harm the very communities the policies aim to help.
It’s heart without the economic brain, and the results rarely match the intentions.
The Tin Man: Republicans and the Brain
Republicans, on the other hand, often bring strong reasoning to the table... an understanding of fiscal responsibility, economic growth, and the power of innovation. When companies thrive, so do jobs, wages, retirement accounts, and charitable giving. It’s smart economics.
But like the Tin Man (logical, efficient, and sometimes cold) Republicans can suffer from a lack of heart in how policies are executed. Recent years have exposed a harsher tone and a willingness to cut programs without considering the human cost. Even necessary reforms, when done without empathy, can wound vulnerable communities and good work being done on the ground.
The brain is essential. But without heart, even the best ideas can harm people.
The Cowardly Lion: Independents and the Courage We Need
Then there are the Independents... the group that theoretically could break the gridlock. They aren’t bound by party lines. They could vote based on conscience instead of pressure. They could elevate ideas from both sides.
But like the Cowardly Lion, their potential is often unrealized. They want to be courageous; they want to lead with conviction. But in the noise of the two-party system, their voices get lost, their influence minimized, and their courage never fully comes to life.
Our nation needs their bravery more than ever.
What If We Stopped Voting by Labels?
Here’s the question that’s been pressing on my heart:
What if we voted the way great leaders lead by seeing people, not labels?
Imagine a day when we didn’t know whether a candidate was R, D, or I. Imagine choosing them based on their heart, their wisdom, their courage, and their character. Imagine Washington filled with people who felt free to vote based on what is right... not what their party demands.
Because the truth is:
Democrats bring the heart we desperately need.
Republicans bring the economic wisdom our nation depends on.
Independents bring the courage to do what’s right rather than what’s expected.
Put them together, and you no longer have a Scarecrow, a Tin Man, and a Lion. You have a whole person. A whole leader. And maybe even a whole nation.
💛 The Priceless! Leadership Lesson
In the Priceless! Leadership Movement, we talk about how leaders shape people’s thoughts, feelings, and performance not through labels, but through love, dignity, and worth. Politics should work the same way. A nation that sees its people as priceless will:
lead with compassion
think with wisdom
act with courage
We have all three qualities in this country. We’re just divided into parties that only use one at a time. It's time to bring them together. Just like Dorothy’s companions, everything we need to heal, unite, and thrive is already inside us. We just have to choose to use it.
Choosing to See Each Other Differently
In the meantime, maybe the most important thing we can do is simply choose to see each other differently. Not as Republicans or Democrats or Independents, but as people with stories, families, dreams, and convictions shaped by their own journeys. The labels are loud right now... amplified by a media cycle that thrives on outrage and social feeds designed to divide us, but they don’t tell the whole story of a human being.
When we let those labels define how we treat one another, relationships suffer. Families stop talking. Friends unfollow. Communities pull apart. But it doesn’t have to be this way. We can choose to listen again. We can choose curiosity over assumptions. We can choose to build bridges instead of borders between us.
And maybe, if enough of us commit to that, we’ll find our way back to the kind of healthy dialogue that helps a nation heal... not by demanding everyone think the same, but by remembering that every person we meet is far more than the letters beside their name.
“There isn’t anyone you couldn’t learn to love once you’ve heard their story.” — Fred Rogers
From the Desk of Scott Doggett
I write pieces like this because I believe people are priceless, and that our country is at its best when we remember the humanity in one another. My hope is that this message helps us pause, breathe, and choose to see each other with fresh eyes... beyond labels, beyond assumptions, and beyond the noise. Thanks for reading and for being part of a movement that leads with heart, wisdom, and courage.
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