The Need For Non Partisan Partisanship

In recent weeks everyone from bloggers on the net to pundits on the networks have been discussing the issues of partisanship versus unity. Some have argued that it is more important for us to work together and to put partisan topics aside while others argue just as strongly that voters elect people to office to fight for the issues they believe in and thus it is necessary to be partisan.

As the title of this posting suggests, I think that to some degree both sides are right, which is why I am issuing a call for non partisan partisanship. Now I admit that make sound like an oxymoron (or maybe I sound like a plain old moron) but I think that this is exactly what we need and perhaps what President Obama has been pushing for.

One of his predecessors, Gerald Ford, often made use of his favorite saying, telling people that “We can disagree without being disagreeable”. It is this kind of political environment that I am hoping we can bring about in our national discourse and most importantly in the halls of power in Washington DC.

Clearly we all have our own ideas of how the country should be run and I am not suggesting that the Democrats or the Republicans give up on their core beliefs. Democrats clearly won the last election and thus should have the right to take the lead on things. At the same time millions of voters supported Republican candidates and those views have just as much right to be be heard and supported.

But just because you express a partisan viewpoint does not mean you cannot do so with a non partisan attitude.

So how might this be accomplished ?

We could consider this by looking to the pending stimulus package before Congress. President Obama thinks that it is important for us to pass it to get our economy going. Many Democrats agree with him but some have issues with portions of the proposal. Republicans are probably more against it than for it but some support the proposal or at least portions of it.

The real key though is that members of ALL parties support the idea of getting our economy going again. We simply have differing views as to how to best accomplish it. Democrats who support the proposals do not do so because they have some secret agenda to nationalize the economy and turn it into a socialist state. They support it because they see people in trouble out there and think this is the best first step to resolve the problem.

Similarly, Republicans who oppose the proposal do not do so because they are mean, nasty partisans who want to put themselves before their country or because they have some secret agenda to sabotage President Obama. They oppose the proposal because they sincerely believe that it will not solve the problems at hand and want to try a different kind of solution.

So when the two parties debate the topic in Congress or when we pundits and bloggers debate the topic on the airwaves or the net, I simply want us to do so in a civil manner. The concept that only your view is the correct one or that if someone opposes your solution to the problem then they are in favor of the problem is what has gotten us into the partisan muck we are stuck with today.

As I said, I think President Obama has the right idea in this area. While he has made it fairly clear that he is going to push for passage of his stimulus package he has also shown a very commendable willingness to discuss things with the Republican members of Congress. I don’t think this means he’s going to let them rewrite the package but I do think he recognizes that while 53% or so of voters supported him that means 47% did not and they have a right to be heard.

By contrast, I am dismayed by the reactions of Pelosi and Reid who have basically said that they don’t even plan to talk to the Republicans about things when it comes to passing legislation. During the years when Republicans were in control the Democrats often complained about the need for the majority to listen to the minority. While they sometimes went a bit far in their demands (which is just part of normal politics) I do think they had a legitimate complaint.

Sadly now that they are in control they have seemed to decide that the minority not only doesn’t need to be listened to but they might as well go home for the next two years. That kind of thinking needs to change and I hope that they take a page from their (and our) President.

I am reminded of a scene in the TV series “The West Wing” where an aide makes a comment to the President, telling him that “we talk about enemies more now”. It was a lament that partisan rancor was taking things over.

I hope that if we make the move beyond harsh partisanship that we can have an aide tell his boss that “we don’t talk about enemies anymore”.