The Rise and Fall of Political Parties

For a long time voters have increasingly shown that they are fed up with politics. Voter turnout has steadily been dropping for years. I have often said that people vote more than you think. But they vote by their feet by leaving.

Then add to that the creations of the ‘Tea Party,’ ‘Coffee Party,’ the break of Governor Charlie Crist from the Republican Party, and the formation of a variety of new political parties, are just a few more examples demonstrating this voter dissatisfaction.

Part of this movement can be accounted for with the Democratic and Republican Parties becoming more polarized in their views. With no way for voters to find resolution, voters have become angry and disillusioned.

The people in the middle, the Moderates, are being used like pawns in a chess game, and torn between the two major parties. President Nixon was famous for establishing the political strategy of pushing his conservative positions in the Republican Primary, and then moving to the center in the General Election. That strategy continues this day, and will be evident in the Florida Governors race by Mario Rubio.

Every day the rhetoric is increased, and all we hear is attacks on any legislative proposals. Bipartisanship has become a dirty word. You see, politically it is more important to score a political point which strengthens a party’s base but discourages moderate voters, then to work on answers together.

Republicans continuously move to the right, jockeying who among them is more conservative. As strong as their conservative message is, they are still concerned by groups even farther right then they are, the new ‘Tea Party’ detractors.

Democrats are no better off, and have never really been united on many matters, causing a lot of internal worry from members forced to support positions they don’t truly share. The charge thrown at Democrats is that they are socialist.

Ironically, it was Charlotte Sun Herald, a Republican newspaper, that editorialized in 2008 that,

“The Republican Party in Florida has thrown local government decision-making under the party bus. They've decided the centralized power in Tallahassee is smarter and better than local government. Our Republican state government now micromanages our local schools, micromanages our growth plans and micromanages local government revenue.”

One could say the Florida Republican Party is probably amongst the most conservative Republican groups in the nation, and yet this statement expresses what Socialism is all about, control of power by a higher government to run everyone’s lives.

The only difference is that it is not coming from the Federal Government upon the States, but from the State Government upon Local Government. It is about as far from the origins of the Republican Party as you can go.

Republicans say they believe in smaller government, and less government intrusion. Yet their actions don’t follow their words. At best I think they believe that government can’t or shouldn't do anything, and shouldn't interfere except when god or country are involved.

Democrats believe that government can solve all problems. Yet even with massive government spending our problems deepen.

What I am seeing is history repeating itself in a new twisted way. You see, when the United States began there were no political parties. Shortly after formation of our Congress, parties formed to consolidate power and push common positions.

The original parties were the Federalist (President Adams), and the Democratic-Republican Party (now known as the Democrats, the party of President Jefferson and Jackson). Following the Federalist was the Whig Party in 1833 (President Harrison and Taylor). The Republican Party wasn’t created until the 1850’s with the breakup of the Whig Party over a dispute over slavery.

Then the Democrats were the conservatives mostly from the South, which were joined by the Southern Whigs who supported slavery. The North Whig Party who was against slavery became the Republicans, and the party of Lincoln (Lincoln was originally a Whig and publicly held to the principals of the Whig Party). What the Whig Party did agree on was a strong support of building infrastructure and the rights of Local Government over Federal and even State Powers.

The Republican Party was a creation not just by the people and politicians, but heavily driven by the newspapers. When the Republican Party began to form in the Midwest, the Pontiac Gazette concluded,

“The only way we see to bring about a better state of things in Michigan, is to adopt the plan of having independent, individual nominations. Let the candidates offer themselves, and let then people choose freely from among them such as they wish to support, without any bias or dragooning from the party -– without feeling the ties of any political association drawing them one way or another. This is the true Republican way of doing things.”

What surprises me most is how over the years the two major parties have completely strayed from their original roots, reversing many of their founding principles. But the fundamental principle of the Whig Party brought to both Democrats and Republicans, ‘strong support of building infrastructure and Local Government,’ has been lost by both.

You see, the Republicans were deemed the liberal social innovators wanting to change how we govern by giving it to the people, and not imposing their Will onto others. While the Democrats were considered the conservatives, who wanted to keep things the same and consolidate power at the top.

My personal belief is that the Moderates, those that share true fiscal conservatism, but yet are socially liberal towards individual rights, could be a political force.

Those that believe that ‘if you want to do something right, then do it right or don’t do it at all.’ That believe government needs to figure out what it is required to do and then do it right, and leave the rest to the people. But also believe that ‘as long as you are not hurting anyone, what you do is your own business and not anyone else’s.’

So where does the Person in the Middle turn? The Moderate? For now, no where.

Until the middle form their own party, they have no where to go, because they have no room in either party. There is no such thing as a Moderate Republican left in the Republican Party that has any influence, and Conservative Democrats are only a limited force in their own party.

The people in the middle have no energy, and have lost their interest. They are the innocent majority by-stander. They sometimes will stand up when totally upset. Maybe someday they may stand up together and change the world, but not yet.

Maybe Charlie Crist is right, and maybe Moderate Republicans should join with Conservative Democrats to seek a common middle ground. Now that would be history repeating itself.