Need for Centrist Third Party Grows
The increasing ascendancy of Tea Party activists and extreme right-wingers in the Republican Party reinforces America’s need for a centrist third party. Recent events have proven that there is no room in the GOP for moderates, or even moderate conservatives, with Senator Olympia Snowe retiring and Dick Lugar going down to defeat in the Indiana Republican primary. The extremists do not want those they describe as RINOs (Republicans in name only) to be part of the party. The idea of a “big tent” that would be all inclusive for the Republican Party has collapsed. And those pundits who predicted that Tea Party influence would diminish over time should dream on.
In fact, even conservative conservatives, like Bob Bennett of Utah, are not extreme enough for the activists who now control the GOP. The unwillingness of the new Republicans to compromise with Democrats on virtually every issue will make governing in Washington even more difficult in the future. And thus far, every member of the group of House Republicans elected in 2010, known for their obstructionism, has won his or her primary in 2012. (http://politi.co/Jq46tS)
It’s true that Lugar’s loss was due to a concurrence of factors, including his not having a home in Indiana, his age, a lackluster campaign, and his being out of touch with his constituents. But the major impetus for his defeat came from the Tea Party, outside conservative Super PACs, and right-wing organizations like the Club for Growth which demands a no tax pledge from all politicians. His opponents were unhappy with Lugar’s willingness to reach across the aisle to legislate at times and his votes for some Obama appointees. They were particularly upset with his support for the auto bailout, TARP and the START Treaty. Lugar’s concession statement is a testament to what is wrong with American politics. (http://wapo.st/LPBUTc)
Another indication of how the Republican Party has changed for the worse is the recent exit of two apparent “up and coming” members of the party, Nathan Fletcher and Anthony Adams, in California. Both left to become independents, Fletcher running for mayor of San Diego and Adams for Congress. Their departure from the party was bemoaned in an OpEd piece in the LA Times a few days ago by former Republican governor Arnold Schwarznegger who criticized the direction of the party and lamented the fact that it was no longer inclusive. (http://lat.ms/JVpXJL)
On the East Coast, Senator Joe Lieberman, an independent and previous Democrat from Connecticut, is also retiring, having found legislating in the current environment unrewarding and Sisyphean. And in Maine, Angus King is running as an independent for the Senatorial seat being abandoned by Olympia Snowe. King, who previously served two terms as governor, is immensely popular in Maine and is likely to be elected to the Senate. Because it’s possible the Senate may be fairly evenly divided after the 2012 election, King could hold the balance of power, determining which party is considered the majority and receives the all important committee chairmanships.
It’s time, however, for men like King, Fletcher, Adams and Lieberman to look at the big picture in this country and join together to form an independent, centrist third party. This alternative to the rigid partisanship of the current political parties, that makes compromise and governing a nearly impossible task, is vitally needed for America to go forward. Organizing a national third party, finding a roster of candidates and getting on the state ballots will be a formidable undertaking. But there are numerous citizens and politicians unhappy with the nation’s political environment who might be willing to participate. Perhaps even some of the centrist Democrats and moderate Republicans who have left politics might be inclined to climb aboard. And centrist groups like Americans Elect and No Labels might be convinced to change their objectives and support a third party if people like King and Lieberman provided some of the leadership.
As Robert Kennedy said, “Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream of things that never were and say why not?” Why can’t America have a centrist third party to bring common sense back to Washington?
Resurrecting Democracy
A VietNam vet and a Columbia history major who became a medical doctor, Bob Levine has watched the evolution of American politics over the past 40 years with increasing alarm. He knows he’s not alone. Partisan grid-lock, massive cash contributions and even more massive expenditures on lobbyists have undermined real democracy, and there is more than just a whiff of corruption emanating from Washington. If the nation is to overcome lockstep partisanship, restore growth to the economy and bring its debt under control, Levine argues that it will require a strong centrist third party to bring about the necessary reforms. Levine’s previous book, Shock Therapy For the American Health Care System took a realist approach to health care from a physician’s informed point of view; Resurrecting Democracy takes a similar pragmatic approach, putting aside ideology and taking a hard look at facts on the ground. In his latest book, Levine shines a light that cuts through the miasma of party propaganda and reactionary thinking, and reveals a new path for American politics. This post is cross posted from his blog.
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We already have one centrist party and they are today’s democrats. The reason Leiberman lost credibility btw is because he got chummy with neocons in the lead-up to that idiotic war. As for today’s GOP, I have no idea what the solution to that mess is but if enough people wake up they will suffer at the polls as well they should. Are there enough moderate republicans still around with the gumption to form a new party? It would be a sign of mental health, but I’m not holding my breath.
The Democrats are also killing off their centrists and anyone who does not adhere to the party line as shown by the Pennsylvania Congressional primaries. And centrist Democrats in the Senate are retiring. The disease of extreme partisanship infects both parties, though I would agree it afflicts the Republicans more.
Zephyr..Do you really believe the current Democrat party is centrist or is it just less extreme to the left compared to the extreme right positions of the Republicans.
I asked that due to defections such as Senator Byah of Indiana choosing not to run again along with Heath Shuler, a blue dog Democrat representative from NC. Joe Lieberman had to become an independant since he was defeated in a primary because he was not liberal enough for the registered democrats in CT. As with the moderates in the republican party, there does not seem to be much room in the inn for the blue dogs in the democrat party these days. Fewer and fewer senators like Byah, Lieberman and Manchin are appearing on the ballot marked with a “D”.
And that opens up another question. Why can’t articles like this be written from a more moderate point of view showing how both parties have grown much more out of touch with the centrist voters. I wonder if JFK, given his position on taxes and RR, given his position on accepting compromise legislation to get part of his agenda could ever be nominated by their parties for the presidency today. Neither seem to be as left or right as what the parties are looking for in a candidate. Had the left been more centrist in 2008, Hillary Clinton would have been nominated and not Obama.
@RP
Don’t mean to interject on your excellent dialogue, but after reading your “Why can’t articles like this be written from a more moderate point of view,” I just have to ask, why can’t we call the Democratic party just that and not the “Democrat party”?
Just saying…
@RP
Shuler isn’t running because NC Republicans redrew his district to favor their party. Not because of any problems with Democrats.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/09/usa-campaign-northcarolina-gays-idUSL1E8G90BR20120509
@Dorian..Sorry for the error. Will try harder next time.
@ Rudi.. Shuler, had he elected to run again would be running against one of two far right Tea Party idiots. Again the republicans have discounted the moderates and there was a chance he could have defeated those candidates with the help of the moderate Republicans. But well before his district was redrawn he took on the far left members of congress and lost. See Link:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0212/72388.html
Once he lost this battle, it appeared his political future was short lived given some of the quotes made well before the district was redrawn.
RP, of course Zephyr can answer for himself, but if you don’t mind my butting in on the conversation…
Yes, the Democratic party is quite centrist right now. We can look at Obama for a wealth of examples. He came out for gay marriage yesterday, but says it should be left up to the states. His SCOTUS picks have been diverse from certain points of view, but are really centrist as far as jurists go. He went about fixing (or trying to fix — we’ll see) health care with a plan that was originally thought up by Republicans. He has not prosecuted bank execs for the horrible malfeasance that led to the economic implosion. He is ostensibly pro-choice, yet has said basically nothing while the Republicans all over the country have passed draconian laws limiting the right to choose — literally hundreds of them. He has been quiet about his foreign policies (no grandstanding and rejoicing in bombings and drones and the war on terror like someone else we all remember), but nobody could call him a hippy or peacenik. I mean, the guy went into Pakistan to kill OBL. He has said nothing and done nothing about guns at all. He gives a quick hat tip to renewable energies when talking about energy, but he’s said almost nothing about environmental conservation in the last 4 years. Regardless of what the GOP say, he is quite friendly to business, both small and corporate. I could go on, of course.
We could talk about whether this means that the Democratic party as a whole is centrist, but many of the same arguments would apply. Obama is the figurehead of the Dem party, he sets the tone for everything, and on almost everything, Dems in Congress do what he asks them to.
What I see is not so much a movement of the Republicans to the far right that is the problem but an 100% solid block supporting the Koch brothers/Wall Street very limited goal of moving as much income and wealth to the wealthy as possible. Looting the 99% to enrich the 1% by suppressing wages, lowering taxes on the rich, eliminating transfer programs, looting pension funds, removing or weakening consumer protection laws, restricting redress through the courts by limiting law suit settlements and eliminating class action suits, removing or weakening usury, opening of more public resources to exploration, weakening environmental laws, discounting science and logic when it interferes with profits or the looting and many others in order to turn the federal government and the country as a whole back to the gilded age when everyone worked to make the rich richer.
They get support for this from a large number of people who are being economically disadvantaged by it by the Republican’s use of a few social conservative issues that are paraded about at election time and put back into the vault afterwords, issues that meant to galvanize support from just enough voters that combined with the Republicans’ demonstrated abilities to suppress opposition votes and advantages from gerrymandering to keep electing Republicans.
If I was in charge of the Democrats I would try to uncut the Republican support among the people who are voting against their own self-interests in order to obtain a very few social conservative goals, recriminalization of abortion, restricting of women, immigrate and LGBT civil rights by empathizing the economic looting especially of middle class friendly programs like SS and Medicare and the social programs that are on the Republican’s chopping block like education that benefit everyone. I think that most people who vote for the Republican ‘feed the rich’ agenda do so because they feel that the government is helping those below them in society get a leg up that they had to work for, a leg up that those getting the help don’t deserve. The Democrats need to show that we all have to fear the rich taking everything that they can from everyone, that everyone benefits from widespread prosperity, even the very rich, that the Republican policies are short sighted, caused the financial crisis and the recession and will cause more in the future, that government isn’t the problem, the boundless greed that is the only thing driving today’s Republican party is.
I live in the reddest State in the nation – Utah! Traditionally Utah Republicans were conservative right of center, but now… even here the Tea Party and their right wing-nut politics have taken root, evidenced by the ousting of former Sen. Bennett and now Sen. Hatch fighting for his political life to retain his senate seat.
I was born, raised and considered myself a loyal Republican, even being a member of the State’s Young Republicans, and being the main leg-man for my voting district (that was one of the strongest Democratic voting districts in Utah at the time) that took Orin Hatch over the top in winning his 1976 bid for the senate in the closest senatorial election in Utah history. To this day, some 30 odd years later, he still recognizes me when I walk into a room or he sees me across the room and takes those few valuable moments to come over and chat with me.
Have I agreed with all his stances and voting record? Absolutely not. Would I vote for him in a reelection bid? Absolutely yes! Why? Because he better represents the rational and well informed views of myself and the people of Utah and the United States as a true ‘Statesman.’ And there lies the rub folks.
Neither political party’s roaring mouses (yes, both parties are now controlled largely by media driven minorities who are well skilled at information subterfuge and hysterical hyperbole) allow true statesmen in their ranks. Fact is, ‘compromise’ is the essence of politics and moving forward with an agenda that solves problems, even if not perfect solutions, but solutions all the same that move the process forward.
In my years of observing the fractured and polarizing environment DC is currently in the grasp of and surmising what may be at the ‘psychological’ core of this conundrum I’m compelled to conclude that the generation X’ers and Y’ers going into politics now simply do not know how to work across an aisle or even understand the meaning of the ‘Greater Good,’ simply taking the divisive arbitrary stance, as their self-centered self-righteous self-assured developed character has moulded them into, they convey and impose on society. This I believe is the result of their not having really been placed, at a young age, in circumstances and situations where they have to sink or swim on the basis of being ‘team players.’ To this point I also believe that America lacks a proven tool for bringing individuals, especially the self-centered/self-righteous ones, to an awareness of the need to be a team player, not a self-important obstructionist. That tool being a mandatory 2 year military draft followed by 2 years of reserve duty.
Sounds preposterous? Lest we forget too easily, this nation came out of WWII with veterans who intimately understood the need to work together for a common ‘general’ goal regardless of differences, background or personal belief. That’s why those WWII veterans are now referred to as the ‘Greatest Generation.’ It’s not a coincidence that the factionalism within both political parties and the extreme polarization of DC politics coincides with less of the Greatest Generation of legislators serving in Congress and a rapid increase in politicians who have never really had to watch the backs of their fellow man in life or death situations, hence the very skewed view of the incoming radical left and right wing-nuts into the political process.
Yes, it’s time for a 3rd ‘Centrist’ party to come into being, and hopefully if such happens, it will be headed by and contain individuals who understand what the Greatest Generation intimately understood and gave their lives for and put their lives on the line for.
@RP The Politico link also emphasizes redistricting with a greater GOP influence in the new district. How is Nancy Pelosi going to be a problem for Shuler COS running in his place?
“The disease of extreme partisanship infects both parties, though I would agree it afflicts the Republicans more.” R Levine
Thank-you. That is at least a nod to the greater reality. Roro and merkin expanded on this as well – thier comments also addressed RP’s question. Btw, I remember when Hatch was considered far to the right, now he’s seen as moderate. Crazy times..