America is a complex concept. Even the origins of such icons as Uncle Sam and Lady Liberty and their impact on the self conception of the American Public is a complex topic. The concept of America we'll be talking about today is pared down to America: the political system as a self correcting organism.
Many of the folks I run into in my daily rounds about town, just living my life, are still lamenting or celebrating the GOP victory in November. It reminds me strongly of how folks were crying or dancing over the 2012 elections. Both sides of our Aisle like to claim temporary victories as 'mandates of the people' . But to someone with no investment in either of our major parties it looks like the electorate as a whole using the ballot box to correct the course of the ship of state.
One of the harsh realities of the two majors is that they are set up to actually represent the extreme end of their respective viewpoints. Most people aren't willing to lean that far to the left or right. Given the choices presented in the elections by the two parties the only option open to the American People is to make sure that one party never has too much power for too long. More often than not no American President has had both Houses of Congress held by his party for very long. It is how a system of checks and balances works.
It is also rather telling in other ways. It implies an inherent lack of trust in the government as it is currently run. It implies an inherent desire not too see power in the same hands for too long. These are good things. It isn't like our government has a good track record when it comes to fair dealing and honesty-just ask the people who were here when the Europeans arrived. Then just ask the farmers and the ranchers. Then read the news. It's all there on paper. It would seem that in America, at least in the USA, there is a long standing mutually wary relationship between those who administer the government and those who elect them. And it is an axiom that power corrupts. It is an axiom now for good reasons: the sheer rarity of those whom it has not corrupted when held for too long or given in too great a measure. The cartoon character of the corrupt politician is ubiquitous. It has been around for hundreds of years. That's a good measure of the depth of credibility gap and it's length and breadth as well.
So my point is this: there is no 'mandate of the people' for either party-ever. It's just that your average voter has had enough of one group of extremists running things for a while. Instead of running around patting yourselves on the back or lamenting the end of the world you might try looking at the underlying message. It comes down to, "Y'all are nuts. Can't we get a better driver for this bus?", every two or four years.
And this is my observation: America is willing to change but like any organism the electorate can only handle so much at a time before it needs to get back to business. We seem to favor the Democrats when we feel it's time for a little social change or we've just had enough of Republicans. We favor the Republicans when we feel we need strong leadership internationally and economically, things the Democrats repeatedly fail at. What We the People seem to want is social change at a pace that doesn't overly disrupt society and jobs.
This is my prediction for the 2016 elections at almost two years out: We'll see the GOP get the Oval Office and both Houses of Congress. Don't be surprised if they lose one House or the other 2 years later.
But like I said at the beginning of this blog, America is a complex thing. And there is certainly more to it all than has been discussed here. As always feel free to comment!
No comments:
Post a Comment