The Path to Partisan Gridlock
by R.A. Levine
Washington was not always as partisan and ideologically divided as it is today. In the past, Democrats and Republicans were actually civil towards one another, and in fact friendships often crossed party lines. No longer. Each party sees the other as the devil in disguise with views that they perceive as un-American. Each is out to destroy the other and gain or retain power. After all, how do you negotiate with the devil? How did our representatives in Washington who are supposed to govern us ever get to be so rigid and uncompromising in dealing with the opposition party?
An OpEd article by Joe Nocera, The Last Moderate, in the New York Times details the evolution of Washington politics as seen through the eyes of Jim Cooper, a blue-dog Democrat from Tennessee. Jim Cooper
Cooper describes Tip O’Neill in the 80s believing that he was Speaker of the whole House, and not just of the Democratic faction, and acting in an appropriate fashion. Under his aegis, Republicans were included in the legislative process and there was a level of comity between the two parties. Things changed with the ascension of Newt Gingrich to the Speakership in 1994. Gingrich was both highly partisan and controlling. He transformed the atmosphere in Washington much for the worse, not allowing alternative bills to be debated, and keeping members of the House in the dark about the contents of complex bills. Democratic voices in the House and Democratic initiatives were suppressed. Then, when the Democrats regained the majority in Congress in 2006, the same pattern continued under Nancy Pelosi. And John Boehner has followed the same course as Speaker since the Republicans took over in 2010.
Cooper does not ascribe the Tea Party’s success as the cause for the dysfunctionality in Washington, though of course its rigid ideological positions do not make it any easier to negotiate over legislative measures. He also mentions redistricting as another reason for the country’s political extremism and likens Congressional thinking to “gang behavior. Members walk into the chamber full of hatred. They believe the worst lies about the other side.”
A true centrist who has been in Washington for nearly thirty years, Cooper bears witness to the ideological divide between the two parties that seems to grow wider all the time. His analyses as reported by Nocera provide some insight as to why the partisan gridlock in Congress exists. Unfortunately, a way out is not suggested.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.
Perhaps a third party of the center with some new players in Washington and new ideas is the answer.