EDITORIAL: Politics on the Margins

One of the sad developments this year in national politics is that, at least in early primary elections and caucuses, discussion has been polarized at the margins of political discourse.

On the Republican side, you have one candidate after another trying to out "anti-immigrant" the other. Who can build the biggest fence along the Mexican border? And how about this "I will get the Mexican government to pay for it!" 

On the Democratic side, you have a candidate promising tuition-free college for everyone, yet nothing is said about how this would be paid for. "Medicare for all" he says, but, again, nothing realistic is proposed as to how the nation would pay for that. "Taxing the rich" is not an answer since we all would have to pay more to meet these new financial obligations. 

In the middle of all of this sits the American public consisting mostly of common sense people who aren't asking for much other than that the country be sensibly governed by a leader who can balance the various interests of the Nation (and the world) and try to keep us out of war. 

Maybe this polarization will end with conclusion of the primaries, but I doubt it. The Republican leader of the U.S. Senate has vowed not to confirm any Supreme Court Justice proposed by the President before the election. Apparently, he wouldn't even consider a qualified Republican should the President submit such a name for appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court. It appears that fulfilling the constitutional obligation of appointing judges will have to wait until the craziness of this Presidential election is over. 

The rest of the world must be scratching its head. "What has happened to the Americans?" This is a country of immigrants, and is the nation that rebuilt its enemies after World War II. It is a country that prides itself on the rule of law and of finding solutions to common problems. It now seems to be a nation "on the brink" whose politics are running on fear, venal personal attacks and profane one-liners.

"Our concerns used to be ameliorated by the understanding that, in the end, common sense would prevail; and that there were adults in the room who would finally be elected to lead the country."

I suppose that we should keep our cool and not be alarmed, but something has invaded our political discourse. We don't talk with each other but at each other. We don't seem to be seeking ways to find common ground, but to accentuate differences based often upon the absence of truth. Our concerns used to be ameliorated by the understanding that, in the end, common sense would prevail; and that there were adults in the room who would finally be elected to lead the country. 

This year something different is going on with our politics, and it is not healthy.

Rolland E. Kidder

This editorial originally appeared in the Jamestown Post-Journal on February 21, 2016