Support for
the two major political parties in America
is hemorrhaging. It’s not hard to see why.
The
politerati point to the 1992 presidential
campaign as the last time public
dissatisfaction with the political
environment was so pervasive that a
disruption to the status quo was even
possible. Third-party independent
candidate Ross Perot briefly led incumbent
President George H.W. Bush and challenger
Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton. If he had
maintained credibility, Perot might well
have won.
But
discontent today is far deeper. In 1992,
just 39 percent of the public was
dissatisfied with government. Today, a
record high 81 percent is dissatisfied.
Satisfaction has plummeted from 59 percent
to just 19 percent. We are in uncharted
waters.
If we were
ripe for disruption in 1992, today most
Americans must be damn close to grabbing
their pitchforks and storming the
barricades of the nation’s capital. King
George was more beloved.
This thirst
for dramatic change isn’t just Republican
voters unhappy with the Obama
administration’s policies. Democratic guru
James Carville told CNN’s Erin Burnett
last week: “There is a real yearning for
something different in this country. It is
going to produce something, I have no idea
what, but something is coming here, I
promise you.”
What
accounts for this dramatic shift?
Obviously, there is deep concern about a
terrible economy and long, costly foreign
conflicts. But there is something more
dangerous: a fundamental breakdown in
trust in government.
We send our
representatives to Washington to fix
problems. Yet every day offers examples of
opportunities lost. We’ve gone from
statesmanship to brinksmanship. Compromise
means victory for the opposing party.
Consensus means the loss of political
leverage. And scoring political points
seems more important than progress on
policy.
Americans
now have largely negative views of both
parties. The public sees little difference
between the effectiveness of either party
when it comes to tackling the economy. And
only 9 percent of likely voters rate
Congress’ performance as good or
excellent.
Republicans
in Congress refuse tax increases, labeling
them job-killing. (It’s hard to negotiate
when you’ve signed a pledge, as most
Republicans and a few Democrats have,
binding you to no new taxes and linking
subsidy elimination to rate decreases.)
Democrats refuse spending cuts, also
labeling them job-killing.
Yet,
by a 2-to-1 margin, Americans support
doing both, increasing taxes and cutting
spending. [ BF emphasis added ]
Unable to
negotiate the policy changes necessary to
avert the next financial crisis, Congress
has deferred responsibility to a
supercommittee. If an agreement is not
reached there, automatic and dramatic
across-the-board cuts kick in. The public
is not hopeful: 74 percent think the
committee will not reach agreement.
Voters feel
increasingly disenfranchised. No party
represents them. Fringe groups with
microphones dominate the conversation.
Super PACs with unlimited funding exert
unlimited influence. Powerful political
advocacy groups skirt disclosure rules.
I helped
co-found No Labels to fight back against
the hyper-partisanship and special
interests now holding the system hostage.
What we hear from voters is they want
members of Congress to put their labels
aside — and work together.
Often
it’s not policy outcomes that are
problematic — the very nature of the
debate is contributing to the loss of
confidence. [ BF emphasis added
]
The
debt-ceiling debate caused the consumer
confidence index to collapse to its fourth
lowest level since first measured in 1952,
according to the pollster Bill McInturf,.
The index today sits at 55. That’s more
than 20 points below the average when a
sitting president loses reelection.
The
debt-ceiling debate was just one in the
seemingly never-ending examples of the
parties’ inability to forge consensus on
anything — from contentious stimulus
spending and health care reforms, to
simple continuing budget resolutions.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
(D-Nev.), by triggering the “nuclear
option” in the Senate this week to block
GOP amendments, only escalated the party
standoff.
If the
Republicans and Democrats in Washington
cannot set aside their party loyalty, then
the people are most likely to declare
their independence again. Almost a third
of voters today do not affiliate with
either party, and 55 percent of Americans
say a third party is needed.
Skeptics
cite all the usual reasons why a
third-party or alternative nominating
process won’t work. But it’s mostly just
pattern recognition. It’s the same reason
they said we’d never elect an
African-American president. Because we
hadn’t, they said we wouldn’t.
These are
different times. I don’t know how it’s
going to happen. It could be the Americans
Elect platform, or it could be in a
self-funded independent candidacy, or a
tea party candidate.
But, I’m
with Carville on this one: Something is
coming.
Mark
McKinnon, a co-founder of No Labels, a
trans-partisan organization, is a
Republican strategist who served as
chief media adviser for George W. Bush
and John McCain.
