BRANDON CLICK
Contributor
Here’s to the moderates, who feel like they have no political party! Here’s to those who are tired of the controversy associated with being labeled “Republican” or “Democrat.” Here’s to those who question why being pro-choice automatically means you’re Democratic, or having an aversion to taxes makes you a Republican.
What about someone who is pro-choice, but also believes in a law-abiding citizens’ right to bear arms, who watches Fox News but also has NPR on his car radio station presets? What about voters who think it’s ridiculous to have to pay upwards of half one’s income in taxes, but also would not be opposed to paying a couple extra percentage points if it meant lower-middle class parents in Newbury Park could have health care for their kids? Where does one fit in if he feels it’s unethical to tell a couple who love and are devoted to each other they cannot get married just because they’re of the same sex, but also thinks it doesn’t make sense to block access to a huge oil reserve just because of a bunch of moose or whales?
I don’t know about you, but conflict over political party lines increasingly drives me toward the middle. But where does that mean I go? I was a member of the Sierra Club as well as the National Rifle Association. My thinking was that I wanted to be able to hunt in a clean environment, and I’m no longer a member of the Sierra Club not for ideological reasons but simply because they charge $35 to renew while the NRA charges $10.
But does that make me blue, or red?
It’s true that the squeaky wheel gets the grease, but it’s disheartening to see this axiom at work in politics. It would be nice to have a Republican candidate who, if need be, didn’t mind telling James Dobson, Rush Limbaugh or Oral Roberts to shove off (though John McCain might have to). It would also be refreshing to see a Democratic presidential candidate who didn’t care if he was called a racist for not courting the endorsement of the NAACP and who didn’t have the offices of MoveOn.org on speed dial.
Politics, like religion, should not pander to whoever has the largest pulpit. Politicians need to court the middle of the bell curve, not the ends. It’s at least a little heartening to see this Presidential election shaping up to be more about moderates than the last one. The other day, I stumbled upon the following quote: “We observe today not a victory of party, but a celebration of freedom — symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning — signifying renewal, as well as change.”
One might think those words to be from a Barack Obama victory speech. However, that quote is actually from the inaugural address of John F. Kennedy. I think more pertinent than his famous “ask not what your country can do for you” line, is another excerpt from Kennedy’s speech: “United there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided there is little we can do — for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder.” At the time, Kennedy was facing the coldest part of the Cold War, much like our next President will likely face the most intense period in the War on Terror. Looking at JFK, as well as a strong Republican President during the Cold War, Ronald Reagan, I see great leadership as coming from not pandering to interests of the party extremes, but uniting the middle. Kennedy was liberal and Reagan conservative, but both were equally as popular with the majority of the country. Republicans who fear that having a Democratic President means weakness in the face of a national security crisis would do good to look to Kennedy’s actions during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Democrats who fear that having a Republican President would send us into more wars would do good to look to Reagan’s commitment to bringing about the end of Communism through negotiation and diplomacy.
So what does that mean for a voter in 2008? For those of us who feel alienated by conflict over party lines, there is no Republocratic Party to turn to. I suppose we’ve got to make due with our choices in a two-party system. That means firstly educating oneself on the candidate’s platforms and backgrounds. I recommend reading Obama’s speech to the 2004 Democratic National Convention as well as McCain’s 2000 speech in Virginia Beach on the direction of the Republican Party – both are good portraits of these men long before they were Presidential front runners.
But most of all, if one is increasingly frustrated by two-party politics pandering to the squeaky wheels, then it’s time to get a little squeaky oneself. If we never have more than two realistic choices in a general election in our lifetimes, it’s our own fault. Rather than sit back, watch CNN and complain, it’s time to “rage, rage against the dying of the light.” It’s possible that our generation can change politics to care less about whether you’re pro-life or pro-choice, pro-gun control, or anti-gay marriage; and more readily celebrate the fact that we’re all patriots in these great United States of America.
03-20-2008