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Partisanship is Essential to a Healthy Republic
By Doug Patton
March 22, 2004
"Hey, you can't fight in here! This is the war room!"
- Dr. Strangelove
Over the last few years, Americans have gotten the impression that partisanship is an unhealthy affliction in our public discourse. We have come to believe that it is somehow important for politicians to agree to get along, even during election years.
Democrats, while publicly denying their devotion to partisanship, practice it all the time. Republicans, while practicing it, feel guilty and tend to make excuses for it.
Imagine if members of Congress could simply hide their party affiliation behind a non-partisan label. Picture yourself stepping into the voting booth and finding nothing on the ballot to indicate whether a candidate was a Republican, a Democrat, a Nazi or a Communist. If eliminating partisanship were the goal, then such a system would be the solution.
In fact, why not just eliminate one House of the Congress? Let's just elect our senate, erudite U.S. Senators and send all those bickering members of the House of Representatives home to find some real work. That should ensure civility in Washington.
There is a place where just such an experiment has already been tried. Until the Great Depression, the State of Nebraska had a partisan, bicameral legislative system. As was the case in all other states at the time, Nebraska's legislature was patterned after the United States Congress. In 1937, things changed. Nebraska voters were hoodwinked into approving an amendment to the state's constitution that created a non-partisan Unicameral Legislature - the only one in the nation, before or since.
The experiment was and is a disaster. Nebraska, once the "white spot" of the nation (no income tax, no sales tax) now taxes its 1.7 million people at draconian levels. The idealistic notion that the people, through ballot initiatives, would somehow become the "second house," has given way to a system where 49 state senators run roughshod over the people while hiding behind a non-partisan label. Meanwhile, the "second house" is made up of a gaggle of lobbyists beholden to special interests.
Political parties, which exist for the purpose of articulating certain philosophical principles and for holding officeholders accountable for adhering to those principles, are essential to the continuance of the Republic. Partisanship is good. Partisanship works. It is the very lifeblood of our political system and has been ever since Thomas Jefferson battled John Adams over the issue of states' rights versus a strong national government. It is in the midst of political battle that good government is forged. In the heated moments when legislators fight to articulate their political philosophies, liberal or conservative, defending them passionately until someone wins - this is when history is made.
The attack on partisanship this year is such that Republican John McCain is being touted as a possible running mate for Democrat John Kerry. McCain, always happy to foster his maverick image by accepting praise from liberals, has done little to dampen this speculation. He would consider such an offer, he said last week, because John Kerry is his friend.
This week, McCain defended his friend yet again by stating that John Kerry was not soft on defense. He went on to state that the Bush campaign was distorting Kerry's record in the Senate. This defense of Kerry was dutifully repeated by one of McCain's other friends, U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel, (R-Nebr.), on one of the Sunday talk shows.
Meanwhile, on another network, the Democrats' chief attack dog, Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., was spouting his usual line of vitriol toward the president.
Leftist sixties activist turned conservative commentator-columnist David Horowitz, in his political handbook, "The Art of Political War," has written that, "Politics is war conducted by other means." While Republicans try to appease their opponents with civility and non-partisanship, Democrats are preparing for war.
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Doug Patton is a freelance columnist who has served as a speechwriter and policy advisor for federal, state and local candidates, elected officials and public policy organizations. His weekly columns are published in newspapers across the country, and on selected Internet web sites, including www.GOPUSA.com, where he serves as the Nebraska Editor. He also writes for Talon News Service (www.TalonNews.com). Readers can e-mail him at dpatton@neonramp.com.
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Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA.
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