I live in California, so I’m used to disagreeing with my neighbors on politics. But the 2016 election has opened up so much controversy and in-fighting that I say we should forget the condescending word “deplorable” as the buzzword of 2016 – “disagreeable” would be more universally apt.
To be fair, there’s a lot on which to disagree. Hillary Clinton fans believe her health has been an unfair target. Trump fans believe the media is in collusion with the Democrats to stifle the real news of her corruption. But even beyond the normal partisan divide, internal strife exists within the Democrat party as Bernie Sanders supporters feel like they’ve been swept under the rug by the Clinton machine; disagreement within the Republican party abounds on how to handle the unique candidacy of Trump.
I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of fighting about politics as this never-ending campaign cycle dominates every second of news coverage and every casual conversation. I anxiously look forward to November 8th, when at least we can collectively move on to a different topic.
But here’s the weird and surprising truth about all of this political dissension: most of us agree on one thing that could revolutionize our nation: Washington, DC is too big, and is too deeply entwined in the lives of average Americans.
A recent bi-partisan poll revealed that “84% of all Americans believe political leaders are more interested in protecting their power and privilege than doing what is right and 81% percent believe the power of ordinary people to control our country is getting weaker every day as politicians of both parties fight to protect their own power and privilege.”1 A 2013 Gallup poll revealed, “Six in 10 Americans (60%) believe the federal government has too much power, one percentage point above the previous high recorded in September 2010. At least half of Americans since 2005 have said the government has too much power. Thirty-two percent now say the government has the right amount of power. Few say it has too little power.”
In a day when both parties are split wide open, it’s remarkable that such a high percentage of people on both sides of the aisle agree on this one topic. Americans haven’t had this kind of consensus since our universal hatred of New Coke or Jar Jar Binks. Let’s take a moment and appreciate the solid majority of folks who are sick of how big Washington DC has grown, and stand together on self-governance. Let’s talk about “who decides…” instead of which particular policies we should enact. We need to get the power out of DC and back to the people, who are better at making decisions close to home than faraway bureaucrats sitting in some inside-the-Beltway office. No one in Mississippi really cares what liberals in California do – and vice versa. Here’s a novel idea. Let the liberal states be liberal, let the conservative states be conservative, let the purple states be purple.
That’s the great thing about our nation – we have different personalities, proclivities, and values… and a Constitution that allows these differences to thrive – not stifle — our nation. Let’s embrace those differences and unite around our desire for a small, limited government. The Convention of States is the rational, reasonable, radical alternative given to us by the Founders in Article V – it will allow us to restrain the scope, power, and jurisdiction of the federal government and maintain our individual flair.
The alternative is that we can just continue slinging mud at each other, and nominating and electing people like Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell. So let’s put our disagreement aside and turn to the one thing we do agree on. It’s up to us, really. “We the people” have to decide enough is enough. Perhaps this contentious election is just the thing to let us see there’s a better way.