Political Partisanship: The Challenge of a Generation
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Last July, Mexico held a presidential election to succeed President Vincente Fox. In what was perceived as an upset, conservative Felipe Calderon narrowly defeated liberal Lopez Obrador. Reminiscent of 2000 Florida, accusations of corruption in the voting process abounded, including the conspicuous presence of a space for a write-in candidate, when election laws in Mexico require every candidate to be registered with a political party.
When a wealthy doctor and philanthropist received over one million write-in votes in some of the poorest areas of the country, Obrador challenged the results and demanded a recount. Thousands of his supporters participated in peaceable demonstrations in Mexico City each day during months of uncertainty.
That all changed in September, when the Trife, Mexico’s electoral court, officially declared Calderon the winner. Many groups that associated with Obrador’s supporters turned violent, especially in the state of Oaxaca. Today Oaxaca is virtually in open rebellion, with many of these groups demanding the governor’s resignation. On November 8, five groups aligned with the uprisings in Oaxaca took responsibility for exploding bombs in Mexico City at the Trife, as well as an opposition party’s headquarters and a Canadian-owned bank.
While the lines of right and wrong are blurred in Mexico’s case, it nonetheless paints a chilling picture. Earlier this month, Americans ousted the Republicans from control of Congress. What would happen if Republicans, upset at being out of power in the legislative branch for the first time in twelve years, took to riots and rebellions across the country, bombing courts or schools or other polling places?
Call it ridiculous, say the analogy’s not fair, but the United States faces a challenge greater than any single political issue, perhaps greater than anything in post-Civil War history. Over the past several years, partisan tension has risen to a boiling point. Liberals and conservatives can barely hold a conversation anymore. Politics seemingly becomes more and more polarized every single day.
As emotions increasingly intertwine with politics and anger grows, how long will it be before a faction of the American people really do rebel in violence against the result of an election or a political act? Would Ohio become Oaxaca?
I have heard that the government of the United States, in its over two hundred year span, has endured longer than any other government in the history of the world without undergoing any dramatic changes to its system. It is difficult for us to relate to the mass political violence some nations experience almost daily. But could that mass violence come and change American democracy as we know it?
Many people give little credit to the presidency of John Adams. Adams, however, could have done the United States one of the greatest services ever. In 1800, when he lost re-election to Thomas Jefferson, he left the office. Sure, many of us are familiar with the influential 1803 Supreme Court case Marbury v. Madison, which dealt with one piece of Adams’s plan to stack the judicial branch with his own political party, the Federalists. Still, he himself peaceably left office. Countless numbers of nations in their infancies have rulers who simply refuse to leave office. Had Adams not allowed for a calm transition of power to Jefferson, the democracy in the United States that has persisted for over two hundred years might not have lasted.
I must admit I felt some disappointment in the midterm elections. Many good people lost their races for Congress, and many bad people won. However, like Adams, I will abide by the election results and while I might not support everything the 110th Congress does, I will support its right to govern. For the most part, supporters of Al Gore and John Kerry did the same when George W. Bush was elected president in 2000 and 2004. No development in recent history is enough to desire the destabilization of our government…yet.
After Nancy Pelosi knew she was slated to become the first female Speaker of the House next year, she said that the Democrats “intend to lead the most honest, the most open and the most ethical Congress in history.” At the moment, I have difficulty seeing how she will implement this. The Democratic minority feels slighted to the point of wanting revenge after the Republican majority practically ignored it, as did the Republican minority toward the Democratic majority before it. However, it is critical that Pelosi follow through on this promise as Speaker. The state of our nation depends on the inclusion of the minority party in order to create a real, rational political discourse. If revenge, emotions, whatever, continue to rule the day, the angry will just get angrier.
Our generation has an obligation to discard the divisive rhetoric employed in politics today. If the angry do continue to get angrier, one day we will have an Oaxaca within our borders, one around which we will not be able to build a fence. We must defend our system of government, if not the individuals within it. And why not? If riots and rebellions prove not to be a problem in the United States, the least it will do is promote good governance.
