Friday, August 18, 2006
Party Hearty
Last week's political shenanigans have had an amazing effect of polarizing my political will. Unfortunately, they show me also that there is no group that caters fully to my political ideology. Lieberman's defeat by Lamont is seen by many to be a clear-cur message to the direction of the Democratic Party, and a victory against the Neocon agenda. To me, it's a message that there is no middle ground to be found between the parties. For either party to be truly effective, they have to include individuals willing to reach out and meet the other side halfway. If that means there are some Democrats that act like Republicans, and some Republicans who act like Democrats, so be it. It's necessary to find common ground.
Without those individuals, policy will always wildly vacillate from one extreme to the other whenever there is a power turnover in the Congress. Lieberman was defeated for being too close to the president, and for his support of the Iraq War.
Similarly, the number of Democratic supporters that lament McKinney's ousting indicate to me that there is an undercurrent that any member of the party is worth protecting as long as they are champions of the party line. McKinney championed the ideals of the Democratic platform, but her continuous coverage in the press for both what she said and what she was alleged to have said made her too controversial to be an effective leader. Nevertheless, there were Democrats who supported her to the bitter end. Such blind loyalty, whether for her or for the presidential administration on the Republican side, shows a definite backslide in the ability of either to engage in intelligent discourse to reach any type of reasoned approach to an issue.
I'm tired of the polarization. I'm tired of the need to be for one extreme or for the other. Do I think this is symptomatic of all politicians? No. Both parties have their share of logical, rationale people. But I do think it is symptomatic of the leadership of the parties and the direction they dictate the group as a whole must adhere to.
I want an end to the two-party system. Either-or is not a valid choice, especially when it too often feels like damned if you do, damned if you don't. I'd like to go to a multiple party system, with a true dynamic choice of equally qualified pool of candidates that truly cover the spectrum of political discourse.
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