People on different sides of the political divide can’t agree on much these days. One thing, however, that they can agree on is that this inability to agree is dangerous. (Each side blames the other.) It’s dangerous to our personal safety (marches lead to riots, easy access to weapons leads to ever more frequent fatal attacks) to our happiness (we’re always fighting with each other) and to the operation and even the persistence of our democracy (call this nation a democracy and someone will yell back, “no, we’re a republic,” when in fact we are barely either right now).
What’s clearer than it has ever been is that we need leaders willing and able—indeed impassioned—in the task of healing the divide, bringing back civil conversation, and making compromise a virtue again. Instead our leaders have almost universally decided in every case to toe the party line. Case in point: The recent Kavanagh hearings. Clearly both sides played politics with this nomination. Clearly both sides alienated the base of the other side. There’s no need to go into the details. When push came to shove, the party in power forced the nomination through for purely political reasons, with a vote that split exactly on party lines (which even the one senator who voted for the nominee proves rather than disproves, as he was running for re-election in a Trump state and knew his vote for the candidate would help him and at the same time not impact the outcome). The other side, had they been in power would have blocked the nomination for purely political reasons.
This is something everyone knows. Why is it worth mentioning now? It’s worth mentioning because if ever there was a nomination that should not have broken along party lines, this was it. Republicans all decided he was innocent despite credible accusations, and Democrats all decided him guilty despite the lack of a thorough investigation. This “us v. them” mentality, we know, has to stop. And this was a missed opportunity.
Someone has to step up. And in this case, it was the Republicans’ turn, and they failed.
And here is where it failed. First, the Republicans should have understood that no particular judge has a right to a seat on the Supreme Court, and that, if it came to it, it would be better to withdraw the nomination of a tainted candidate than to force a candidate through just because they can. Judge Kavanagh did not need to be confirmed. His confirmation served no essential Republican interest. Had his nomination failed, other equally conservative choices were waiting their opportunity. And certainly they were not all tainted.
But if the Right did want to go as far as the could with this nominee, then they should have insisted on a full investigation of the allegations, even if that meant the process continued past the midterms, even if that meant the Democrats won the opportunity to have more say on a candidate, even if that meant that in the end a more centrist, less tainted candidate might have to be chosen. (In fact the 60-vote requirement never should have been suspended. We need candidates the other side can vote for.) If you’re going to pull the country together, you have to be willing to compromise. You have to be willing to be the bigger person. In that end, that will be better for your party and better for the country. This nomination never should have gotten as far as it did.
President Trump has normalized the “us v. them” mentality. He can think in no terms that are not absolute. He’s never given a speech not riven with hyperboles and lies. With him everything is either the best ever or not worth mentioning. The problem pre-existed him, but he has made all of his success off picking at the wound. We need politicians who will hold to their own values without demonizing those who do not agree with them. That is what we should look for when we vote in November. Most of us, however, are unlikely to find a candidate on either side who fits the bill. One think however that we know about politicians is that they will go where you push them. Most of this country is in fact in the middle. We have the power to make our politicians enforce our will if we are willing. So finally this is an appeal not to the politicians but to the voters not to line up behind your team and root for your side at all cost. If you need to think in teams, your team is the nation. Your team is the world. And all teams need everyone’s cooperation to succeed.
