My daughter failed to qualify for the nationals of the National Forensic League CX debates but what caught my interest was why. She was on the aff for expanding food stamps. The neg team effectively cited the recent Tea Party violence as a reason why such social programs should not go forward. This reminded me of my own personal journey. I had been dismayed at how poor a candidate was Sarah Palin and found McCain's choice of her irresponsible and not in keeping with a Presidential temperament. That combined with my daughter's cajoling and McCain's poor judgment in the financial crisis made me check out the other side. But what sealed the deal for me was all the violent threats during the Palin rallies. When I announced my switch to my Democratic activist neighbor I noted that as Americans that we should eschew the violent rhetoric. Regardless of where we were ideologically we needed to come together as a country or our society would spin out of control.
More after the fold.
I was hopeful the evening of election day. Given the hope that was in the Obama speech and the grace in the McCain speech I hoped there would be a new era in American politics. I never was more wrong in my life. Again, what I was looking for in a President was someone who could go against his own party for the good of the country. I saw in the President the centrism that may be exacerbating here but exactly what the country needed and still needs. I thought I saw that McCain's place was in the Senate as part of the "loyal opposition". It seemed that way until the tea parties emerged a little over a year ago.
At that time I was asked to participate in a group blog that stressed bipartisan co-operation. Until August I thought my views were more representative of the center right portion of the political spectrum. The conspiracy theories were so over-the-top that rational people would just laugh. Right? Wrong!!! Once we saw that there was no more rational dialog was to be had, our posts started trickling off.
Since then I found out the history of the use of the term bipartisan. It's not nonpartisan as was used by Franklin D. Roosevelt's secretary of state, Cordell Hull, when he wanted to classify close executive-congressional cooperation. In 1941, he formed an Advisory Committee on Postwar Foreign Policy composed of both Republicans and Democrats. Hull convinced the Republicans that nonpartisan was the correct term to use:
Hull told [John Foster] Dulles [who was conferring with him on behalf of Thomas Dewey] that the word "nonpartisan" rather "bipartisan" should be used to describe the effort to keep the U.N. out of domestic politic. "Bipartisan" meant that both would be involved on a political basis. "Nonpartisan" meant that neither party would be involved on a political basis.
Dulles argued for "bipartisan". After a discussion of "literally some hours." Dulles finally agreed to "nonpartisan."
Richard Nixon's Southern Strategy was when the use of the term bipartisan started in earnest. He was trying to co-opt Southern Democrats who opposed civil rights legislation. One example of the strategy was the nomination of Gov. John B. Connolly for Secretary of the Treasury who was the head of the conservative wing of the Texas Democratic Party.
Predictably, Nixon announced Connolly's appointment as an effort to win bipartisan support for administration programs. [Emphasis mine.]
Looking at the differential support for the President from the South versus anywhere else shows the power of such Southern Strategy "bipartisanship". Just like the civil rights struggle we have a return of violence in the political square that had been noticeably absent during my adult life. The Southern Democrats became Republicans but there still existed moderate Republicans. So, the coalition just shifted. Now there is no coalition in the Republican Party.
This appears to explain why mainstream Republicans weren't as shocked as I by all the violence. I had personally defined bipartisan as nonpartisan. I believed the term "country first" rather than seeing it as a cynical ploy like the Southern Strategy.
As a Christian, I am instructed to pray for my leaders and my country. I will be praying for their safety and for unity as a nation. As Americans, our political differences should not be a barrier to achieving our common goals such as quality health care for all Americans. Certainly, we should not promote or tolerate violence to achieve our political ends. It is my hope that people of good will will stand up against the tides of violence and barbarism. I apologize for having such a downer of a diary when we should be basking in the historic achievements of this week. Still, this is a reminder that we should not be resting on our laurels just because the bill passed. We have a lot of work remaining fighting -- not merely for a new law but for our very civilization. Let's roll.