Why America needs two Robust Political Parties

ONE OF MY GREATEST realizations was that many of the questions we can’t answer are simply bad questions… They’re false dichotomies – “either/or’s” with choices that fall on either side of the Truth. It’s possible, for example, to like a new light beer because it’s less filling AND tastes great. It’s even possible for a western Marylander to like the Ravens AND the Steelers... And maybe government is both the “problem” AND the “solution.” Life is full of false dichotomies – don’t let them mislead you.

And so it is with the false dichotomy of big government versus small government. It’s a false choice because neither size works best:  Small government is the “survival of the fittest & luckiest,” while big government is the equal distribution of "quiet desperation." (See RM 19) Ideally, government should be “medium,” one that strikes an optimal balance between large and small, and “drifts” larger or smaller in response to worldwide realities.

Getting Government “In the Zone”

America needs two vigorous and opposing political parties, because that’s the only way to "push" government "into shape." Just as the Scales of Justice are balanced by well fought-out scrums between prosecutors and defense attorneys, so too is optimally sized government created by perpetual standoffs between the forces of too-big government (Democrats) and those of too-small government (Republicans).

Left uncontested, either political party would muck things up:  America needs Democrats demanding more from government every bit as much as it needs Republicans waking them up from some of their completely unsustainable, albeit well-intended, dreams.

A Vicious Cycle of Polarization

Independents are America's largest bloc of voters. September 2013 Gallup polling revealed the highest percentage of self-described Independents ever – 45% – of whom, 47% claimed to “lean” democratic, while 41% said they leaned republican. Subsequent Gallup polling from early October, 2013 (in the wake of the federal government shutdown), reported only 20% of respondents identifying themselves as “Republican” – an historic low for the party and some 13 percentage points below the membership level Republicans enjoyed during their party’s zenith in December, 2010.

Actually, ever since 2006, Republicans and Democrats alike have been finding numerous reasons to quit their parties. And America’s Independent ranks have correspondingly swelled. 

But “Moderate Flight” has sent America into a “vicious” cycle of political polarization. Here’s how:  most states have “closed” primaries, which means unaffiliated voters – mostly moderates – can’t vote in them. Without these moderates’ votes, hyper-partisans with little interest in consensus-building end up winning their primaries. Thus, unwittingly, America’s bulging bloc of Independent voters has created an electoral system that produces increasingly fewer moderate general election candidates. The resulting polarization (and gridlock) leads to evermore disaffected voters, evermore party dropouts, and ultimately, evermore ideological extremists being sent to Washington. And so on, and so forth….

Unless enough of the 88% of Independents who lean towards one party or the other rejoin the party they lean the most towards, debilitating political gridlock will continue being our country's “New Normal.” (See RM#1)

False Dichotomies

Beware of the false choices our political “talking heads” present us with. Choosing only the Democrats’ policies would be just as disastrous as choosing only the Republicans’ policies. Economies, for example, should be neither fully regulated nor completely unregulated. And healthcare certainly isn’t a “right,” but it’s hard to think of a more noble cause for society to pursue…

And speaking of healthcare:  it remains America’s “monster in the closet.” We've got about 10 years to go before our first wave of retiring baby boomers hits their late 70’s and begins sending our national healthcare costs into the stratosphere…which will implode our federal government in the process.

So, we have about a decade to find the leadership that’s going to be needed to reform America’s very helpful, yet very doomed, entitlement system. But those leaders simply won’t emerge unless we fix our political system first:

1. Promote political party membership:  Pick a party...join it...fix it.
2. Eliminate Gerrymandering by relying upon Independent Redistricting Commissions in each state.
3. Eliminate the Electoral College.
4. Enact “Enough is Enough” Congressional Term Limits:

• House of Representatives:  20 Years,
• Senate:  30 Years.