Partisan Politics

In listening to Joe Lieberman talk yesterday I was taken aback by his topic, as I was expecting something more along the line of Senator Thompson’s speech, constantly explaining how McCain’s military background makes him the only choice to be our next President. Especially since Partisan politics hasn’t been high on the priorities of the American public, at least not as stated in recent polls, his speech came as a shocker. Yet what he spoke about, Partisan politics has been stated by activists such as Japhet Els of Change-Congress.org as the most central problem of our government, the root from which many of our woes stem.

As a member of today’s youth, I like many of my generation, am put off by the current state of the government. Apathy in my generation has taken hold, caused in large part to what we see when turning on the T.V to listen to our politicians. We hear a cacophony of words with no backing, Partisan ideas, slander being thrown about by both sides, and little actually being “said” by those running for office. However, while this campaign has had its fair share of candidate bashing and negative advertising (to note I watched the RNC on CNN and they were running anti-McCain ads during the convention) I still feel much more enthusiastic about my options for President then I have in my short lifetime following politics.

At the base of what I’m looking for in this election, is a break in the gridlock that grips Washington. Several months ago I attended the Leon Panetta lecture series, featuring Tucker Carlson, Gov. Bill Richardson, former Clinton Chief of Staff Leon Panetta, and Bill Press. The panel focused on this gridlock in relation to Obama’s campaign, as this was a Democrat delegation, the thing that struck me the most was how they stressed that the only way to get things done in D.C, will be with the political capital the President has in the first 100 days he's in office. Be this what it may, I don’t want to think that the next President has only 100 days to grapple with some monumental issues. The perils we face scare me; from our foreign energy dependence, to social security, the war on terror and the image of our nation to the world, not to mention our teetering economy, and looming Medicare crisis. It’s going to take more than 100 days to set forth policies that deal with even one of these issues, and thus we need a President who can cross party lines to make sure that the necessary decisions be made and legislation passed to deal with these issues accordingly.

Lieberman’s speech helped to highlight for the general public, the impressive resume that John McCain holds in his fight against special interests in Washington, who are responsible for much of the quagmire the besets our government. From his campaign finance reform bills to his championing of those who try to infuse our legislation with Pork Spending, McCain has time and again put the interests of our nation before that of the Party. In doing so he has strayed from typical Republican policies and crossed over to work with Democrat’s to make such accomplishments possible. To me, this history makes him stand out as the smartest candidate to pick when the November election takes place.

While our future President will be charged with the task of spear-heading the fight against Partisan politics, in no way does this mean that the general public should simply sit back and wait for change to happen. Our politicians are representatives of their constituencies, meaning that our voices for change are necessary for any action to occur. We can’t let special interests and corporate lobbyist drown out the cries for action of the general populace. I’m proud to say that here in Silicon Valley; the cries of the public are being amplified with the help of technology and our entrepreneurial culture. Sites like Change-congress.org have been present at the conventions, talking to various delegates and elected officials about the corruption that has taken hold. Specifically traction has been found at both conventions surrounding the effort to deal with earmarks and maneuver legislation through the Partisan stand still.

Hope isn’t a word that should be patented by just those of the Democratic Party; rather it should be the rallying cry of all of us, across party lines. Hope should inspire us to pick the candidate who can create change in the future, not merely preach about it. Hope should be handed down to the next generation, so that the problems we face today will not cripple their future tomorrow.