The time may be ripe for dispensing with political parties altogether. It’s fall, the harvest is in, and we’re all waiting a bit tensely for the results of November’s political contest.
Everyone feels that there’s a lot at stake in this year’s election outcomes. The down economy; conflicts over domestic policy; an uncertain international arena.
In this brave new world, who will win? The Republican or Democratic party?
Wait a minute. That’s a crazy, insane question. Why aren’t we asking, “Will America win?”
Based on the gazillions of unaccounted-for dollars pouring into Political Action Committees (PACs) and the almost exclusive negative messages these dollars pay for – day in and day out – you would think we were at war.
Some would say we are. At war with ourselves. Another bit of insanity.
Our religious traditions teach peace and reconciliation and the recognition that we are all in this together.
For example, the Bible says, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32)
The Talmud states, “For sins between man and God, Yom Kippur atones. But for sins between a man and his fellow, Yom Kippur does not atone until he appeases his fellow.” (The Yoma)
Democrats against Republicans; Republicans against Democrats. The end of the world is obviously nigh.
Well, as a society, we’ve obviously slipped a bit in understanding the ancient truth of finding the path forward through working together.
In Montana all local and state elected judicial positions are non-partisan. Here, and nowhere else in our political landscape, something akin to sanity reigns. Citizens must actually elect their judges based on knowledge of the judicial candidate and his or her qualifications. And by-gum! Montanans tend to elect good judges. Better yet, we do not have to experience the divisiveness of partisan politics in the selection process.
Direct evidence of this exists in this election season, too. Citizens in Flathead County planting campaign yard signs for either Democrats or Republicans also display the identical sign for a certain judicial candidate.
How far apart can people actually be if they advocate for jurisprudence from the same individual? In this race, citizens are voting – as they should – for the most qualified.
Just imagine a future free of PACs and the barrage of nasty political ads. Imagine electing the better-qualified candidate rather than simply relying on political party affiliation, which we must admit often happens here in Flathead County.
Case in point, this year’s Flathead County commission races. If these two race were stripped of political party tags, you would suddenly take a greater interest in each candidate’s qualifications. You’d probably vote for the better candidate rather than for the party affiliation.
To put it another way, the political parties have outsourced themselves to the PACS and the attack hounds. It would take an amendment to the Montana Constitution to eliminate political parties. Maybe it’s worth some discussion.
Dave Hadden lives in Bigfork.