the nature of the political beast
by Brian Burns
It seems as though Barack Obama is trying to win over the entire American population as he is slowly sliding from the left toward the center by stretching to reach over to the right. While his health-care policy is sure to alienate the Republican base, the effect his Afghani-war policy will have on the left will be as equally frustrating. With his ideas on expanding faith-based initiatives upsetting a large amount of left-leaners, his opposition to CAFTA and NAFTA will surely tweak a few nerves on the right. It can only be seen as an attempt at being what George W. Bush said he was striving toward, but not surprisingly failed miserably at; being a ‘uniter’, not a ‘divider’, of the American populace.
After eight years of partisan politics, in which Bush helped widen the gap between red and blue to one of canyon sized proportions, Obama seems to be focused on doing the best he can to bring the two sides together. By setting up his policy to reflect a bit of ‘give and take’ from both sides he is moving from his base and setting himself up to be a truly bipartisan presidential hopeful. But are these the necessary steps in what it takes to become a ‘uniter’? Is it even possible to unite the American public?
Partisan politics and the gap which separates the American people politically are as old as the republic itself. From the days in which Thomas Jefferson took control of the presidency and congress after a bitter fight against the Federalist John Adams the unification of politcal philosophies in America have been divisive on a grand stage. It may appear that the red-blue division is somewhat young, something that didn’t really come about since the Republican uprising after the Lewinski-Clinton scandal, but if we think back to Bush Sr., and then back to Ronald’s ‘Reagonomics’ we can see the division in attitude amongst Americans was no less apparent. We can step back one further to Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, and on, and with every president we happen upon we notice there was a great divide in the population’s philosophies on who should have been leading our nation and why.
When our country is in a state of progression, and our markets are strong we tend to tuck our complaining and finger-pointing away for a rainy day. Though secretly the opposing side to that which has control is always looking for the first mistake. They’re looking for the single miscalculation in policy, or that first slip of the tongue that they can make a banner from and parade it through town while chanting, “I told you so.” Americans are beyond unification, and have always been, simply because that is what our country is based upon. It is a melting pot in not only race, creed, and color, but also in our philosophies. Any country that has a mixed population will always have a division in political thought, while those that are considered “free” nations the matter will seem ten times greater since the cries of the opposition can be heard through the media across the globe. Fortunately and not so fortunately it’s the foundation of our country - free thought, and the freedom to express those thoughts. Because of these given freedoms we’re allowed to publicly fight tooth and nail for what we believe in. We fight to place those with similar philosophies in the power position since we fear those in power who think otherwise. We are not supposed to be a country where the winner takes all, but a nation of give and take. It’s supposed to be a country where the majority rules but with concessions made to the other side, as those of the opposition are also Americans, and the job of the president is to listen to the will of all of us.
Barack Obama’s quest to become a centrist is honorable, but if he is trying to be a uniter it will never happen. The only times people unify is when an outside force is attacking. Whether it’s a human conflict or it comes by way of a natural disaster, people in those times will subconsciously drop all prejudices and put forth the energy that it takes to quell the issue. Shortly thereafter, when the raging tides have ebbed and there is a moment of calm, is when the people lift their arms to once again point their fingers of blame.
