Moderates of the world, unite!
For those of you who are who didn’t sign up for the 20th century history class, that is a snide reference to the last line of the Communist Manifesto.
Many years ago, I was asked to conduct a tour for the head of a Belgian private equity firm that had invested money in some projects owned by my then employer. Either the bosses were unable to recruit another guide and/or he was not an important investor, because senior management viewed me as a loose cannon wiseass (with some justification). In either event, the investor and I had an interesting day together, wandering around apartment complexes.
At some length, we discussed the immigrant demographic of America. He asked me where my ancestors came from. I told him Italy and Ireland. He asked why they had emigrated. I told him that I didn’t know in the case of the Irish, but it probably had something to do with the potato famine. In the case of my Italian grandfather, the family myth was that he was the #2 son of a family whose #1 son had been kidnapped by the Mafia. Angelo was sent to the new world to try to recoup the family fortune, which was drained by the payment of ransom. Angelo did OK for himself, but no fortune was regained. I went on to say that it was a real shame that the Mafia dominated the economic and political life of Southern Italy and Sicily. His response has stuck with me all these years: People get the leadership they deserve.
I thought about that as I contemplated the race for governor in Florida. One of our largest and fastest growing states is in a terrible political state. On one side, we have a Trumpster, who opened the general election campaign with the rare gymnastic feat of getting both feet in his mouth simultaneously. Either that, or he is a racist of the rankest variety. The other alternative is a so-called Democratic Socialist (read Socialist), mayor of a city that is being investigated for pervasive corruption. I don’t know whether he is personally corrupt, but I can say with some certainty that he did not avail himself of the opportunity to address the problem.
I don’t have specific evidence for this assertion, but general polling data I’ve studied leads me to believe that no more that 20% of the Florida electorate subscribes to the policy prescriptions of either of these candidates. That leaves 60+% who will either stay home on election day, or show up at the polling place with the proverbial clothes pin on the nose. How in the world have we arrived at this low point?
We are at an extreme level of polarization in the political class. Reformers blame gerrymandering. A bit of hypocrisy is involved. Democrats, under the astute leadership of Congressman Phil Burton, gerrymandered the House for 50 years. His own district was a clever agglomeration of voters from two counties — liberal, but not too liberal. He bequeathed his seat to his wife, Sala. On her deathbed, she anointed Nancy Pelosi. None of the three ever faced a serious opponent. They all spent campaign seasons raising heaps of money to spread around to other party members. Nancy is planning on one of her daughters replacing her. With the aid of modern technology and a lot of statehouse wins, the Republicans put the shoe on the other foot. It pinches. The result is that ideological purity is required to win primary elections in districts full of partisans. Any hint of ideological mushiness (willingness to compromise) produces a primary challenge. However, the rush to end gerrymandering overlooks the fact that statewide elections can’t be gerrymandered. The Senate is just as partisan as the House, if not more so.
The response of a great swath of the electorate is to check out — register as Independents. Therein lies the problem. Our system is rigged in favor of the two parties; all attempts at a third party since the formation of the Republican party have failed. It’s hard for new parties to get on the ballot. The “horserace” media mostly ignores minor party candidates. Even those styling themselves as Independents who are elected to the Senate have to caucus with one of the parties in order to get any committee assignments.
If you want to do something about the excessive and dysfunctional polarization in our current political process, you have to participate in the system as it is. Extremists have captured the machinery of both parties. Extremely partisan candidates win primary elections because their followers show up to vote. If more moderate players don’t pick a party and participate/contribute/vote with that party, and if moderates don’t show up at the polling place on primary election day, the system will continue to spit out extremists. The only candidates on the general election ballot will be ones you don’t like. Independents get the leadership they deserve!
