While most media attention this election season is focused on the run for the White House, the makeup of the next Congress is also in play. Come November, who will be chosen to serve? And what does this say about American politics?
In all likelihood, those elected will be deeply conservative or liberal, unwilling to compromise or even work together. These ideological divisions have all but eradicated bipartisanship on Capitol Hill and elsewhere, and the bitter wrangling between parties will only grow more rancorous, strangling the work of government.
That’s Bill Bushop’s conclusion in another installment of the Austin American-Statesman‘s ongoing series, “The Great Divide.” (Registration required.)
Fifty years ago, U.S. House Speaker Sam Rayburn, a Texas Democrat, served drinks at the end of the day to his Republican opponents. When they were young congressmen, Republican leader Robert Michel and powerful Democratic Rep. Dan Rostenkowski shared a car on the long ride back to Illinois.
Power was a club then, and most legislators did not let ideology get in the way of membership.
But today in Congress, good old boy coziness has been replaced by political divisiveness unseen in this country for nearly 100 years. And it’s personal.
Bishop and the American-Statesman have spent much of this election season analyzing the evolution of the highly partisan politics that color every election, from school board to chief executive. The series of articles examines voting patterns since 1948. Americans, writes Bishop, have segregated themselves politically, choosing to live among those with similar views, and electing representatives unwilling to shed their ideological mantles.
What has suffered, writes Bishop, is the notion of representative government. “There’s no beginning or end to this process. There is only a grinding certainty that the newest members of Congress on average will be more partisan and extreme than the people they replaced. Over time, these shifts change not only the way Congress works, but who runs for office.”
As a result, the important work of government is imperiled.
Writes Bishop: “There are fewer compromisers in Congress these days and less compromising. North Carolina Democratic Rep. David Price, a former Duke University political scientist, eyes the rising federal budget deficit and a mound of stalled legislation and says, ‘I think we are losing the bipartisan capacity that we need for some of the toughest things we need to do.’ Democrats are more liberal; Republicans are more conservative. And those differences increase with each new class of House members.”
Much of the coverage of this election has involved numbers. Horse-race numbers: Who’s ahead in XYZ poll. Who’s ahead in battleground states. Who’s ahead among swing voters.
The American-Statesman goes beyond that to focus on fundamental differences among the electorate and forces that are radically changing the face of American politics. This is what political reporting should be.
–Susan Q. Stranahan
Susan Q. Stranahan wrote for CJR.