And sometimes, we must confess, it can lead to breaking a lance against popular opposition to an idea whose time has not yet come. Those setbacks can deal a blow to an idea not just in one election cycle, but sometimes for a generation.
With that in mind, we're sympathetic to - and supportive of - the hesitation by Triangle leaders to move quickly to try to get authority for an additional half-cent-on-the-dollar sales tax.
After several sessions of resistance, this past General Assembly gave governments in Durham, Orange and Wake counties authority to ask voters to approve that additional tax for mass transit projects.
Even if we green-flagged the levy right now and moved quickly to put that money to work it would be years before we saw real relief in our sometimes paralyzing traffic congestion. We're a society deeply committed to single-occupancy vehicle travel, and it shows in our morning and evening (and sometimes mid-day) traffic jams.
The new tax, if voters in each county approve, could mean $73 million a year. That is substantial money toward mass transit.
We're a nation that relishes our supposed mobility, our opportunity to hop in our car and head wherever we want. We don't, however, relish the climate degradation from our laissez-faire approach.
Growing concerns over the impact of our auto infatuation on the climate, increasing delays on congested highways and a national administration that gives more weight to mass transit may help provide the impulse to break out of the mold.
Still, the coming year seems like the wrong time to take on populist citizen anger over any government program. This is a tumultuous time.
"There's an old clich
