Wanted: A Few Honest People to Restore the Two Party System
You can choose what’s on the menu, or go hungry. That’s how the two party system in the United States works, meaning outsider candidacies have, at best, the opportunity to serve as a spoiler. I’m not saying I like things this way, I’m saying this is reality.
While various third party efforts have risen and fallen throughout our history, none has had the staying power to effectively compete for more than an election cycle.
Although the concept of political parties weren’t included in our country’s foundational documents, over the past two hundred years or so, successful candidacies have mostly been tied to political organizations. They’ve had different names, swapped ideologies (hence the GOP claim they aren’t racists), and been based on regional economies.
These political organizations have written the rules we play by when it comes to elections, which exclude the idea of a third party. The way our legislatures are organized, separated from the executive branch and with partisan control of the legislative flow, make starting a political party from scratch a non-starter.
Taking over a political party from within has been the road to success for various political movements in the past.
It certainly looks like the Tea Party has become the dominant force in Trump’s Republican coalition. Unless this coalition can seize and hold on to power for an extended period of time, they are doomed by circumstances beyond their control, namely changing demographics and the forces of nature.
So this brings me around to the local political situation. The Republican Party in San Diego has a close to zero chance of expanding its influence. In every race where there was an opportunity to overcome a voter registration advantage in November, they flopped.
(Meanwhile, the old guard of the Democratic party is being pushed aside. The public campaigns for President of the City Council should be considered exhibit A. For today, I’ll limit my observations to what’s happening with the local GOP.)
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The chairman of the San Diego County Republican Party, Tony Krvaric, is stepping down in a few weeks.
Given that so many politically interested elements in the local business establishment have disengaged themselves in recent years, it is likely that Krvaric’s hand-picked successor, South Bay Realtor Paula Whitsell will replace him.
She’s out there on the conspiracy fringe of the party, so I’m sure she’ll get lots of press as she spends the next few years ranting about George Soros, lizard people, and the Chinese Communists who bribed local election officials to throw the presidential election to former Vice President Joe Biden .
The problems with the Republican Party go beyond their conspiracist fantasy bubbles. Take a look at what their elected officials have become; the new standard for national leadership includes a willingness to bend or break the truth on a daily basis, encouraging and upholding breathtaking corruption as long as it favors the top 1%, and regularly accusing the opposition of the acts they themselves are committing.
The Republican Party’s brand, in its quest to serve the individual rather than the nation, has adopted the “ends justify the means” as canon. This can’t end well. Either they’ll end up destroying themselves as factions feel obliged to use scorched earth tactics against each other, or as a vessel for a demagogue, which is what they’ve come close to becoming..
There are huge numbers of voters who are unhappy with political parties as they are. And, no, they are not the ‘centrist’ unicorns so often cited by opportunists in both parties. They’re conservative, liberal, far-right and socialists and every flavor in between.
What most of them really want is a government that works, that allows their voices to be heard, protects the nation, and addresses inequities fairly. I realize there’s a lot of wiggle room in that statement, but I see opportunity for restoration of a healthier political system.
So what are local Republicans up to? Mostly flogging dead horses (Biden won) and encouraging suicidal behavior (leading the COVID-19 resistance). It’s one thing to have theories or beliefs about how the other side won; it’s another to think the election can be voided.
These causes may gin up their existing base, but the vast majority of San Diegans have more interest in protecting their families than becoming martyrs.
If you drill down far enough in today’s Union-Tribune/SurveyUSA numbers, you’ll see that the “me firsters” on the coronavirus question amount to about 12% (or 16% depending on which question looked at) of the population.
Soon-to-be ex-Mayor Kevin Falconer says he’s thinking about running for Governor of California in 2022. There is fertile political ground for him to till in raising the kind of campaign with a chance of winning.
Our present Governor has made some mistakes, namely toadying up to some rich friends in a maskless birthday party, and failing to deal with massive inefficiency and corruption in the distribution of unemployment benefits.
Falconer could overcome his voter registration disadvantage by claiming he did a good job of running a big city otherwise controlled by Democrats. He’s largely managed to avoid the appearance of scandal and presented a vanilla veneer when seeking public support.
(The real story of his years in San Diego remains buried in a huge pile of press releases and public relations gestures.)
But the biggest obstacle for any Republican candidate running for statewide office is his own party.
Falconer’s Mr. Clean story will soon get muddled in the mess of mentally unstable elements of a political party whose big tent ambitions include room for nativists, flat earthers, and people victimized by traffickers of conspiracies.
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Let me break away from the local angle to recount the actions of an individual in the face of overwhelming pressure to make a point.
Meet Michigan Republican Aaron Van Langevelde. His decision to follow the rule of law effectively derailed President Trump’s helter-skelter effort to overturn the election.
From Politico:
In the end, it wasn’t a senator or a judge or a general who stood up to the leader of the free world. There was no dramatic, made-for-Hollywood collision of cosmic egos. Rather, the death knell of Trump’s presidency was sounded by a baby-faced lawyer, looking over his glasses on a grainy Zoom feed on a gloomy Monday afternoon, reading from a statement that reflected a courage and moral clarity that has gone AWOL from his party, pleading with the tens of thousands of people watching online to understand that some lines can never be uncrossed…
...Van Langevelde is a Republican. He works for Republicans in the statehouse. He gives legal guidance to advance Republican causes and win Republican campaigns. As a Republican, his mandate for Monday’s hearing — handed down from the state party chair, the national party chair and the president himself — was straightforward. They wanted Michigan’s board of canvassers to delay certification of Biden’s victory. Never mind that Trump lost by more than 154,000 votes, or that results were already certified in all 83 counties.
The plan was to drag things out, to further muddy the election waters and delegitimize the process, to force the courts to take unprecedented actions that would forever taint Michigan’s process of certifying elections. Not because it was going to help Trump win but because it was going to help Trump cope with a loss. The president was not accepting defeat. That meant no Republican with career ambitions could accept it, either.
I realize it’s a pipe dream, but I’d be happy to see a functional Republican Party again. The dynamics of tension over ideas and ideals is a better path to good governance than simply being the party of “NO... And screw you liberals. And me, me, me.”
Here’s the opportunity for Republicans, namely become what they’re not.
Instead of death threats, which I’m sure that attorney from Michigan is getting, he should be lauded as a hero. Republicans in Georgia are so pissed at the Secretary of State that they’re about to give Democrats two additional Senators in upcoming January elections.
Instead of destroying government, they could be the advocates for a well run government. I realize that this isn’t as profitable as selling ambassadorships or using a charity as a bludgeon, but it could be packaged attractively and would no doubt attract a following.
If you wanted to Make America Great Again, living by rule of law and high ethical standards would be a good place to start.
Of course, there are just two little things wrong with my Two Party fantasies. One is called Big Money. The other is called fake news.
Fix those with real campaign finance reform, some common sense on public carriers (yes, that includes the internet) and we’ll be on a road to a better run country.
Even some of the sources for this degradation of democracy are beginning to see the error of their ways. Charles Koch has discovered that his financing of free market dystopia has been a mistake. OANN has been deplatformed from YouTube (at least for a while) for promoting a “cure” for COVID-19.
I know this is too much to ask for. I guess I’ll just stick to the menu. For now.
I’ll see you next Monday. Enjoy a safe holiday.
https://twitter.com/RBReich/status/1331634297195831297?s=20
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