Governance reduced to a team sport

The gloating of Republicans over Massachusetts is reminiscent of that of Georgia Tech fans after Tech’s 2008 victory, and folks tend to take every win (or loss) as a sign of permanent change. It never is.

A year ago, the pundits were ready to bury the Republican Party; the Democratic sweep seemed to signal the end of the GOP. These were the same people who wrote the Democrats off after the GOP got control of Congress during the Clinton administration.

It doesn’t work that way. Against all odds, Georgia beat Tech in 2009, and a Republican captured Kennedy’s seat in Massachusetts. Everybody gets a turn to celebrate. Nobody gets to celebrate for long.

The ups and downs of both parties will continue, giving all party partisans the opportunity to cheer and claim victories.

The problem is too many people view politics as a team sport, where one team is beloved and the other hated. This is not Georgia vs. Georgia Tech. Today, if a proposal is floated by Republicans, many Democrats dismiss it out of hand. As for the GOP, its focus now is not on governance, but on preventing President Obama and the Democrats from having any success.

No politician or political party is always right or always wrong, but most of our major issues break down strictly along party lines. Woe unto the legislator who will break ranks and support something the other party offers.

While the Democrats or Republicans celebrate the latest election win, absolutely nothing is done about the grave problems facing America, from terrorism to health care, from the budget deficit to global warming.

The 24-hour “news” channels have done much to make politics a spectator sport, and the bloggers have jumped in with out so much as a pretense of objectivity. We talk about issues only in terms of beating the other team.

Folks, we can’t afford politicians who claim to put America first, but whose allegiance is to a political party. Both political parties have succumbed to extremism. Their tactics are reminiscent of those used by the terrorists in that they’re effective in creating havoc but totally useless in solving the real challenges of governance.

Mark Beardsley is editor of The Commerce News. He lives in Commerce.