Politics 101, Part I

As I have said before I've received a couple of emails asking for me to answer some specific questions and offer some insights into the election this year. I'm going to attempt to do this as best as I can, trying not to bore people, tell you the obvious, or heap large amounts of my bias in my writing. Of course this is nearly impossible to carry off and likely you might find yourself, at various times, feeling bored, that I'm stating the obvious, and reading a Pro-Kerry leaflet...for this I apologize in advance. Also be forewarned that while I will try to be fairly regular and diligent in this mission, I have a full course load of History classes which require about 200 pages of reading per class each week (that's 1000 pages total folks), a part time job, two dogs that insist on playing, and a wife who despite everything still enjoys my company. So first things first, a few questions I received- Joni asks "What do you think about Swift Boat Veterans for Truth?" The short answer is Swift Boat...Veteran...For Truth- Two out of Three ain't bad! The longer answer is that it is easy to look to these ads as the cause of the current decline in Kerry's poll numbers, however I think that is a bit myopic. Kerry's decline began before this series of ads, though they do reinforce the Bush campaign's accusations that Kerry is inconsistent and vacillating. The ads also hit to the heart of some of the non-traditional Democratic support that Kerry had been picking up- Veterans Groups. At one point, Kerry was polling fairly close to President Bush with Veterans, but that has since slipped to a substantial lead for Bush. I don't by any means believe this election has been decided yet, though I admit things look bleak for the Kerry campaign at the moment. Recent polls have shown Bush with a lead between 7-10 points and pulling away from Kerry in close states that looked in play as recently as a month ago. Currently the Bush administration is muddling through in Iraq and the economy has signs of recovery, yet both of these factors are not on sure footing and disaster in one or the other (or both) can happen at any moment. Elections, especially presidential campaigns need to be viewed almost in segments. Bush certainly has won this round and Kerry has had a significantly poor month. I still believe this election is close and the debates will be the key "non-extraneous" factor in swinging it to one candidate or the other. I think the Bush administration is keenly aware of this as well, and this is why they are trying to limit the President's participation (last week the Bush campaign mulled pulling out of one of the three debates-the one with undecideds- citing fears that Bush detractors would place faux questioners in the audience). The Swift Boat Vets ads are by no means a new low in negative campaigning, though they are on a par, in my opinion, with some of the worst. We can never know for certain what transpired in the jungles and the rivers of Vietnam during Kerry's tour of duty. All that we can rely on is the written record of events- that on the surface support Kerry's version of events, and the members of Kerry's detail-who also verify the record. The version of events that the Swift Boat Vets maintain is an opinion, and one they are entitled to, but it should not be mistaken for 'facts'. Much has been made of Kerry's statements regarding his being in Cambodia at a certain point, which isn't supported by the record. This is of course because there would be no record of American troops in Cambodia at that time without an international incident. Next question Tara asks "What is a republican?" I am intrigued that you used the small 'r' republican, accidentally I'm sure, but as there is a difference between small 'r' republicanism and capital 'R' Republicanism and it is often lost on the non-American audience I wanted to address it as well. One of the biggest misunderstandings about American democracy is that it is a democracy at all- it isn't. In fact the American system is a Republic, a constitutional representative democracy but far from a pure democracy. This of course was the fundamental argument among the American Founding Fathers, how remote should individuals be from the power of government. While the Founders feared a government of aristocratic nobles they were just as fearful of the uneducated masses wielding power with little barrier to control of the government. Therefore is was the chief goal of the framers of the Constitution to create a structure that place power in representatives (some elected, some initially appointed- the Senate for a time was 'elected' by state legislatures) who would be, it was assumed, educated and serious men. This republican ideal was a drastic change from the landed aristocratic rule in Britain from which the new American public had just won its freedom. Capital 'R' Republicans refers to a political party. The original Republicans were not necessarily what we know today. Republicans in the early days of America were generally thought of as anti-Federalist (in fact Anti-Federalists are what you will normally see them called). These Republicans (or Anti-Federalists) were opposed to the strong centralization of a federal government (which was supported by you've probably guessed by now- the Federalists). While they supported the Constitution in the end, the Anti-Federalists (of which Jefferson was clearly the ideological father) pushed for the Bill of Rights as a protection for individuals and states against the federal government. As this early period of the US passed, the Republicans faded into the background (as did party politics to some extent). Of course party politics never went away, and the Republican Party that would come to the forefront that we know today (though not necessarily concurrent in ideology) became a power in the antebellum period. The Republican Party became the collection of smaller parties all with pieces of different ideologies, but generally in support of holding together the Union. Lincoln's victory as the Republican candidate for President in 1860 set the stage for the Civil War. The two party system that exists today is, in some respects, a result of this conflict. The antebellum Democratic Party was the dominant force in American politics, yet it fractured over slavery and secession, and would take decades before it would regain parity with the Republicans. That Republican Party was a progressive Republican Party, embodied by Theodore Roosevelt who broke up the Trusts, was an internationalist, a conservationist, and a president who wanted to expand the powers of the office. His successor in 1909, William Howard Taft was perhaps the first modern conservative Republican president, as we would define Republicans today. (In fact, the rift in the party between the progressives and the conservatives would lead to Roosevelt running as a third party candidate in 1912 and the election to Democrat Woodrow Wilson). Beginning with the 1920s, Republicanism became synonymous with fiscal conservatism and laissez-faire government. The hallmark of Republicanism in the middle years of the 20th century was opposition to Franklin Roosevelt's 'New Deal' and the expansionism of the Federal Government. The late 20th century Republican Party still had not solved its internecine divisions between progressives and conservatives. The conservative faction within the party would begin to take hold in the 1960s with the rise of the civil rights movement. Conservative Republicans were at odds with the Civil Rights Act for its intrusion into states rights and saw it as a further expansion of federal control. When many Southern Democrats left their party, the Republican Party, now ideologically controlled by Barry Goldwater, began to make inroads in the South. The slow shift of conservative dominance within the Republican Party would finally take hold in the late 1970s and early 1980s and with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, the conservative wing of the Republicans were firmly in charge. I believe, today's Republican Party is once again at a crossroads. It could be argued that there are now 3 factions within the GOP (Grand Old Party). The Moderate Republicans, the Fiscal Conservative Republicans, and the Social Conservative Republicans. While each group shares attributes of conservative ideology with the other, there are deep divides that threaten the stability of the party. Many Fiscal Conservatives are at odds with the Bush administration over its lack of discipline in budgetary matters, while Moderates are at odds with the move to a stricter socially conservative ideology. The forces within these factions are increasingly centrifugal, yet the Republicans remain in power. Yet for how much longer may be determined soon.