Why Washington is Broken

I’m kind of going to continue off our last post about voting and talk about why, in my opinion, our current political system is broken.  Also, this might be kind of long, but I hope you take the time to read it anyway. 

“Let no one who is not above the frailties of our common nature disdain compromise.”  Henry Clay, known as the Great Compromiser and the idol of President Abraham Lincoln, spoke these words in regards to his belief that compromise must be the basis for a successful government.  However, compromise has disappeared from Washington, as leaders in office have drifted more towards the far left and far right while they are less interested in solving political problems as they are in defeating their next opponent in primaries.  Many leaders in Washington with uncompromising attitudes seem to be chasing something that is not possible: for one party to gain complete control and implement its agenda without any disruptions.  This will never happen though with our nation so ideologically split. 

What our government was founded upon and what are country needs today is for politicians on the right and left to work together, compromising on their agendas and respecting the other side in order to ultimately reach agreements.  The reason why compromise has seemed to have escaped the floor of congress is simply how the campaigning process has escalated.  After the 2010 defeat of the centrist democrats, both parties have become significantly more ideological, drifting farther and farther towards the extreme left and extreme right.  This is because the far ends of both parties are much more organized than the middle, caring more about the outcomes and more willing to pay large amounts of money to fund candidate’s campaigns.  In order to win primaries, candidates’ platforms must be more towards the radical ends of their parties than they used to.  In turn, after having these platforms, they are forced to follow through on their promises to never compromise on their main issues, which leads to two completely conflicting ideologies, neither of which willing to give in to the other. 

Now, I am not saying that the nation is doomed or that if we don’t make drastic changes right away the nation will collapse.  There are a couple of changes I think that cold really help fix politicians’ uncompromising attitude.  One, the middle of the country must have a stronger and more prominent voice.  They are, after all, the people who end up deciding elections anyway, as voters on the far left will always vote democratic and voters on the far right will always vote republican.  Two, publicly financed campaigns with a set limit would keep candidates from catering towards the radical corporations with large amounts of money.  Three, if congressmen’s terms were extended to four or six years, they would be able to spend more time trying to solve the nation’s problems and less time trying to attack their next opponent.  Four, if independents were allowed to vote in all primary elections, they could perhaps choose candidates with more moderate, compromising attitudes.  Lastly and perhaps most importantly, if legislators do not agree to take on more compromising attitudes, the American people must find leaders who will.  After all, “You can always count on Americans to do the right thing,” Winston Churchill once famously said, “after they’ve tried everything else.”