Congressman Justin Amash of Michigan declared his independence from the Republican Party today.
Amash’s father was a Palestinian refugee. His immigrant parents were both Republicans. Yet Amash says in his July 4 Washington Post op-ed that most Congressional Republicans are ignoring the basic party principles of “limited government, economic freedom, and individual liberty” in favor of mere Red-Team partisanship.
But Amash can’t leave his party without both-sides-ing the debate, saying Republicans and Democrats both are endangering American democracy:
The two-party system has evolved into an existential threat to American principles and institutions.
…True to Washington’s fears, Americans have allowed government officials, under assertions of expediency and party unity, to ignore the most basic tenets of our constitutional order: separation of powers, federalism and the rule of law. The result has been the consolidation of political power and the near disintegration of representative democracy.
…The founders envisioned Congress as a deliberative body in which outcomes are discovered. We are fast approaching the point, however, where Congress exists as little more than a formality to legitimize outcomes dictated by the president, the speaker of the House and the Senate majority leader [Rep. Justin Amash, “Our Politics Is in a Partisan Death Sprial. That’s Why I’m Leaving the GOP,” Washington Post, 2019.07.04].
I will forego debating the wimpy whataboutism that gets in the way of calling out, for example, South Dakota Republicans for relying far more than South Dakota Democrats do on dehumanizing, objectifying branding to shoot down protest and avoid frank and enlightening discussions of real policy impacts.
I prefer to focus on Amash’s contention that the two-party system poses an “existential threat to American principles and institutions.” If such a risk exists, what does Rep. Amash recommend we do about it?
No matter your circumstance, I’m asking you to join me in rejecting the partisan loyalties and rhetoric that divide and dehumanize us. I’m asking you to believe that we can do better than this two-party system — and to work toward it. If we continue to take America for granted, we will lose it [Amash, 2019.07.04].
Reject partisan loyalties and rhetoric? Sure, no problem. But what else? What replacement system are we to work toward? Simply withdrawing our party affiliations and vowing to vote strictly on policy not on party label won’t do much good if the candidates on the ballot are still all selected by the dyed-in-the-wool hyperpartisans who remain in charge of the parties we abandon. Amash himself recognizes that danger:
In fact, the parties have become more partisan in part because they are catering to fewer people, as Americans are rejecting party affiliation in record numbers.
These same independent-minded Americans, however, tend to be less politically engaged than Red Team and Blue Team activists [Amash, 2019.07.04].
Independents aren’t good for much if they can’t get on the ballot and run effective campaigns. If independent candidates’ fellow independents remain less engaged in politics than their partisan counterparts, independent candidates will consistently have fewer resources on which to run campaigns, will continue to finish third in most elections, and will continue to have little to no influence in restoring the proper intelligent and non-partisan functioning of Congress.
In other words, if we seek the change Amash professes in his declaration of independence, we can’t just signal our virtue by registering I; to make a difference, even I’s have to act as a new We. That means working even harder on political activism: banding together to identify qualified and reliably independent candidates, rallying donors and volunteers, and winning elections. And if you’re going to go to all that trouble to win in one election cycle, you might as well be efficient and keep all that campaign infrastructure in place to help your candidates win reëlection and to recruit more candidates to support your independent cause.
And that means creating a new political party to compete with the existing dysfunctional parties… and working really hard to prevent your new party from losing its principles and falling into the power-mad dysfunction that drove you and Amash out of your original party in the first place.
There are finite alternatives to a failing two-party system. We can’t have a no-party system: the First Amendment guarantees our freedom to associate with others to express and pursue our political aims. We could try a one-party system, but as the Soviet Union and South Dakota demonstrate, that generally goes poorly.
We can reform the two-party system and demand that all Republicans and Democrats (or the Libertarians and Socialists that could replace them, respectively) put country and policy ahead of partisan power games. (A two-party system does not inherently threaten democracy, if everyone in those two parties does politics right.) Or we can establish a multi-party system in which Libertarians, Socialists, Greens, Constitutionizers, and any other significant subset of Americans who can get their poop in a group run intelligent and effective campaigns and ensure that legislative leaders must always reach across party lines to build a voting majority.
Good candidates, like good ballot measures, don’t just magically appear on the ballot, allowing us to cast a virtuous vote every now and then before sinking back into cozy political inattention. Democracy doesn’t run itself. Declarations of independence must be followed by concerted, sometimes revolutionary, action. Patriots who follow Amash in fleeing their dysfunctional parties must work together with even more energy in political affairs to remedy the existential threat of hyperpartisan politics.
Related Reading: More political engagement is worth the effort. Protecting democracy with free and fair elections has more positive impacts on public health than boosting the economy:
A study published in The Lancet in April analyzed how the “democratic experience” of a country impacts the health of its citizens. The results were a clear win for democracy.
Democratic countries with free and fair elections generally had higher overall life expectancies among residents who were HIV-free than did autocracies. Democratic experience also eased the burden of chronic, noncommunicable diseases like heart disease or stroke, according to the study.
…The study found that democratic experience played a larger role than GDP in reducing the burden of cardiovascular disease, traffic accidents, cancer and other noncommunicable diseases. Tuberculosis was also better managed under democracies, but most communicable diseases, like malaria or diarrhea, were generally not affected by democratic experience [Jonathan Lambert, “Good News About Democracy: It’s Good for Your Health,” NPR: Goats and Soda, 2019.07.04].
As for the Democrats being an equally “existential threat” to South Dakota, Bill Walsh’s editorial in today’s (7-5-19) RC Journal is worth considering (apparently referencing Democrat Ray Hildenbrand). I’ll link it but it may have a paywall so I will also quote from it.
https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/opinion/columnists/local/yours-sd-has-great-democratic-tradition/article_1c02f6c9-4d09-5be0-ac14-ad145411a1b1.html
Reject partisan loyalties and rhetoric? Create a new political party? The problem is the media sensationalizes fringe opinions and candidates. Polls show that most Democrats, not to mention swing voters, are much more likely than Republicans to be centrist.
Here’s How To Lose to The Donald … (my ongoing series on Twitter and Facebook)
3. Keep promising lots of free stuff and don’t sweat paying for it.
Trump and his fellow Republicans have run up massive deficits, but we Dems can make them look like fiscal hawks by outbidding one another. People like free stuff, but they are less keen on having to pay for free stuff for other people, so if you want Trump for four more years just talk as much as possible about having taxpayers pick up the tab for free college, day care and health care.
~ By one estimate, Elizabeth Warren’s various plans would cost about $3.6 trillion a year—or $36.5 trillion over 10 years. She insists she can pay for much of this with a vast new wealth tax that is politically impossible and constitutionally dubious, but, hey, at least she’s not Bernie.
Thanks for that BCB. So per Bill Walsh and as shown by evidence, 2 or more active and participating parties make better government. A party of No, like Chinless Wonder McTurtle and his GOP, make worse government. The parties must be committed to the state and US constitution and their job as described therein.
In order to create a better state for everyone in it, SD voters must stop blindly voting R and do their due diligence on the candidates records and policy positions, then vote accordingly.
In DC the criminals and traitors need to be tried and imprisoned and the integrity of the US government, all 3 branches, restored.
Bribing legislators on any level by any name needs to be completely criminalized and elections publicly funded.
Federal and state districts must be drawn by computer algorithms.
Clean up in every aisle!
Tonight reporting (pbs) mention gerry mandering by “both” parties. Repubs hang on to this propoganda and public radio ect lets it go unchallenged.
The real story in DC 4th july trumpeting is:
the cost to stay at Trump International Hotel around the 4th of July is extraordinary. The hotel, which almost never sells out, is unavailable to book for individual nights on the 3rd and 4th of July. On the 5th, the prices are double the average for the cheapest room available in comparable luxury hotels. The rate on the 5th is also more than double the average for comparable Fridays at the Trump Hotel. The only way to book a room for those dates as is by spending thousands of dollars on a minimum three night package, due to a “high level of activities in the city over this special holiday”.
This is all the con president and his crooked family care sbout.
https://www.citizensforethics.org/4th-of-july-trump-hotel-rates-skyrocket/mp-hotel-rates-skyrocket/.
Gag me
The two party duopoly is like a political black hole. It bends around at the extremes and connects, so the alt-left/right are at virtually the same point. Amash was never a reasonable and trustworthy leader. He is an extremist who does not play issue by issue. We need to discard ideas like this joker’s and continue carving-out the center of the road where true progress can be made ideologically, culturally, and practically.
Millions of dollars of Ellsworth improvements—one could read that as an example supporting Amash’s argument that the parties stand for no clear principles but simply do whatever it takes to remain in power. Many progressives would contend that Ellsworth Air Force Base unnecessarily ties South Dakota to the hungry maw of the military-industrial complex.
But independents may have a hard time getting elected advocating a scale-down or shutdown of South Dakota’s lucrative war installation.
The alt-left is not at the same point as the alt-right. Right-wing extremists commit more terrorist acts in the United States than any other identifiable ideological group. The “alt-left”, to the extent they even exist, are too busy Instragramming each other their gluten-free snacks to kill anyone.
(“never a reasonable and trustworthy leader… extremist… joker…”—count on Trumpists to project their unspoken realization of Trump’s weaknesses onto their opponents.)
…but if Amash isn’t a leader, then his declaration of independence will achieve nothing. Moving the political needle requires organization.
Amash first came on my radar in late May when he called for the impeachment of Trump, there wasn’t much discussion of a third party.
This morning on CNN Amash doubled down on his call for impeachment.
Impeachment is nice. Organizing an effective campaign that ensures the election of a President of unimpeachable character is nicer.