A Dying Ben Sasse: We Need “More Healthy Normies” in Office Right Now

It almost sounds like the beginning of a classic joke – a reporter and a former politician walk into a New York City bar.

Only the latter is Ben Sasse, a dying man battling five types of cancer, and still alive three months beyond his projected survival. The reporter was John McCormack, senior editor at The Dispatch. They recently sat down in a New York City establishment for a drink and a conversation. 

A former U.S. Senator from Nebraska, who also served a stint as president of the University of Florida, Ben Sasse has been, in essence, suffering and declining very publicly. His podcast, “Not Dead Yet: A Joyful Rebellion,” is a series of poignant and practical conversations laced with gallows humor – a reflection of both the firmness of his faith and the playful spirit of a man who sees life as a gift.

Earlier this spring, Mr. Sasse sat down with Focus on the Family president Jim Daly, sharing his convictions and the eternal perspective that’s enabled him to power through the pain and grief of his diagnosis. A committed believer in Jesus Christ, he grew up in a Christian home and said he’s known himself to be a sinner for as long as he can remember.

It’s this foundation that frames and informs everything he’s faced this past year.

“We often come to a feast around a table thinking of ourselves first, which is why even our most lavish meals are mere crumbs,” he told Daly. “In Heaven, we’ll sit at a table, and there will be joy and peace and fulfillment because Jesus sits on the throne, and we, His sons and daughters, will eat and drink deeply from His goodness.”

Ben Sasse’s conversation with McCormack covered some of the same topics but also dipped into regrets the former senator has about his time in Washington, D.C. 

It seems Ben wasn’t all that excited about running for Congress. Coming from academia, he underestimated how much time it took him away from his family – upwards of eight months a year. He said he actually only ran because he thought campaigning would be fun.

“If I had it to do over again, dinner would be more precious,” he told McCormack. “Sundays would be different. Digital fasts would be more common.”

Whether running for Congress or not, all of us have a finite number of dinners and Sundays with our family. It shouldn’t take a terminal diagnosis to remind us of that fact, but we tend to act like we’ll live forever until we’re reminded otherwise.

Given his own hard-earned lessons, how would Ben counsel those considering a run for public office?

According to Sasse, he tells people with young children not to throw their hat in the ring at all. 

“I don’t think it makes sense to run if you have little kids at home right now,” he reflected. Instead, he says if “you’re a little bit older and you don’t have day-to-day obligations and you’re content to lose,” then go ahead.

But then Ben Sasse drilled a bit deeper beyond mere demographics and described the type of politician we need more of in our nation’s capital. 

“It would be great if we had more healthy normies run for office right now,” he told McCormack. 

What’s a healthy normie?

That’s internet slang for someone who is mentally and socially well-adjusted. It’s someone more focused on Main Street than Wall Street, who is stable and recognizes what Americans think, care, and dream about. A healthy normie sees people of faith as positive, productive and additive. They love the Lord, their family, and their country. 

They recognize that all life is sacred, that marriage between one man and one woman is the plan, that children are a blessing and not a burden, and that all our rights are from God and not the government. They recognize there are only two genders and that a man cannot be a woman and a woman cannot be a man.

They’re not malcontents or misfits committed to reimagining multi-millennial norms. They’re happy, excited and enthusiastic about their lives, their families, and their country.

Doesn’t that sound refreshing?

Within a sinful world, evil and wicked forces are constantly trying to revolt against the “healthy normie” lifestyle. This is why the Apostle Paul urged believers in Rome, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (12:2). 

Ben Sasse is using his final days to encourage us to learn from his mistakes and make the most of the remaining time we’re given. He may not be physically healthy anymore, but his spirit and mind are healthier than most people who are currently cancer free. 

May the Lord bless and be merciful to Ben Sasse and his family.