Mort Kondracke, who has spent much of his career playing a liberal on TV, has a new column out today that portrays California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as a "post-partisan" model of the politics of the future. What is this new world of politics that Kondracke promotes?
Kondracke's column begins with praise of Schwarzenegger's self-proclaimed "post-partisanship," which Kondracke hopes will sweep into Washington. He then quotes from Schwarzenegger's second inaugural address in January of this year:
"[W]e have the opportunity to move past partisanship, past bi-partisanship to post-partisanship."
"Post-partisanship is not simply Republicans and Democrats each bringing their proposals to the table and working out differences."
"[It] is Republicans and Democrats actively giving birth to new ideas together. I believe it would promote a new centrism and a new trust in our political system."
This model appeals to Kondracke, who claims that it represents "an end to partisan combat and attention to problem solving," which is what he says that the public wants.
Aside from Schwarzenegger, he touts as a promising example of post-partisanship a letter signed by 10 Senators, five from each party, that asks George W. Bush to support a health care reform plan that would "ensure that all Americans have affordable, quality private health coverage." [emphasis added] The inclusion of the word "private" reveals a deception that is inherent in the post-partisan model. If you asked Americans what kind of health care they would like to have, many will surely say affordable and high quality, but how many will reply "private"?
Kondracke writes that the post-partisan focus on problem solving is what the public desires most, but this example shows why the framing of the problem is so important. By framing the issue as a need for "affordable, quality private health coverage," it is likely that the post-partisan solution will involve subsidies to health insurance companies and increase their profits; what is less likely is that quality health care will follow.
Values are the impetus for action. They are inseparable from our worldview. There is no consistent set of values that leads politicians to post-partisanship, or a centrist worldview, as we note in Chapter Two of Thinking Points. But what led Schwarzenegger to his post-partisanship?
As Kondracke notes, Schwarzenegger was rebuked by the public in 2005 for the California ballot initiatives he proposed and vigorously campaigned for in a special election. Schwarzenegger himself said that he learned from that election that "dividing people does not work," according to an AP story today.
What really did not work was Schwarzenegger showing his true conservative values through his hostility toward nurses, teachers, and other unionized workers. Like the actor he is, Schwarzenegger has donned a new role, that of the peacemaker who is above the fray of politics, even invoking Mahatma Gandhi, as the AP article notes. But have his values really changed?
Schwarzenegger now aims to achieve his goals through other means, and this peacemaker persona disarms the public and the media. He proudly proclaims that he takes on tough problems and overcomes partisan bickering by meeting with politicians from both parties in his "cigar-smoking tent." In reality, this puts up a smokescreen by drawing attention to post-partisanship itself and away from the substance of the issues. While his overt actions in 2005 provoked civic participation and activism against his agenda, today he dampens public participation by keeping what is at stake behind closed doors. This is Schwarzenegger's post-partisan depression of civic engagement in politics.
Written by Evan Frisch and Arianna Siegel, staff members of the Rockridge Institute, who blog at Rockridge Nation, where this is cross-posted.