If campaigning burned calories, Congress would be the healthiest institution in America.

The 2026 midterms are still months away, yet Washington is already behaving like it's the night before Election Day. The consultants are consulting. The pollsters are polling. The fundraising emails are multiplying faster than mosquitoes after a South Texas rain.

And governing? Well... they'll circle back to that after the campaign.

House Republicans are pushing an early government funding vote, a move that supporters call strategic and critics call political theater. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. In Washington, it's often difficult to tell where public policy ends and campaign choreography begins.

At this point, Congress should come with a disclaimer:

"Professional politicians. Do not expect results while campaigning, which is always."

Meanwhile, back in the real world...

Nobody at H-E-B gets to tell the cashier, "I'd love to pay for these groceries, but first I'd like to spend the next eight months blaming the other checkout lane."

Your electric bill doesn't accept political talking points as payment. The mortgage company doesn't waive late fees because your favorite politician gave a really passionate speech on cable news. And somehow, while Americans are calculating whether they can afford eggs, insurance, and another Texas summer electric bill, Washington is calculating polling numbers. It's almost impressive.

If Congress spent as much time fixing problems as it spends naming them, we'd probably have fewer problems to fix. But here's the beauty of election season:

Every pothole suddenly becomes a crisis.

Every politician suddenly discovers the working class.

Every candidate suddenly remembers where rural America is.

It's political bird migration. They disappear after Election Day and magically return every two years asking for your vote. "Hello, fellow taxpayers!" Where have you been? "Oh... in committee." Of course you were.

Now, before someone's blood pressure spikes, this isn't exclusive to Republicans. Democrats have mastered this dance, too. The choreography simply changes with the music. One side blames the other. The other blames the first. Cable news fills another three hours. Social media declares victory. And your grocery bill couldn't care less.

That's the part Washington often forgets. Voters aren't looking for the best performance. They're looking for competence. Most Americans aren't asking for miracles. They're asking for roads without craters, affordable healthcare, decent schools, a government that can pass a budget without threatening to shut itself down, and maybe, just maybe, elected officials who spend more time governing than auditioning for reelection.

Imagine that. A radical concept. Doing the job you were hired to do.

So here's La Tía's campaign promise:

The next politician who tells me they're "fighting for the American people" is getting one follow-up question. Wonderful. What have you finished?

Not announced.

Not proposed.

Not tweeted.

Finished.

Because speeches don't lower prices. Press conferences don't fix bridges. Hashtags don't balance budgets. And no amount of campaign confetti can hide unfinished homework. Election season will come and go. The commercials will disappear. The yard signs will eventually end up in someone's garage. But the problems Americans live with every day will still be there the morning after the votes are counted.

Maybe it's time we started electing people who treat governing like a full-time job instead of a never-ending audition. Because if campaigning were an Olympic sport, Congress would bring home the gold.

Too bad governing isn't judged on applause.

@Santitos

@salinasmariasantos

Copyright © 2026 Maria Santos Salinas for FRONTeras.

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