McConnell, the Republicans, and American Politics
Peter Schultz
Below is a
link to an article from the NY Times, entitled “McConnell Gambled on Health
Care and the Alabama Senate Race. He Lost.” This article is interesting because
it illustrates the character of American politics quite well and how it differs
from what conventional wisdom tells about our politics.
According
to the conventional wisdom, our political parties are conduits through which
the popular will is translated into legislation and policies, making our
officials “representatives” people of “good will,” who respond to the popular
will as it manifests itself in polls and elections. In brief, our political
parties are the tools of democracy, headed by well-intentioned politicians
seeking to advance the common good.
Contrarily,
however, what this article illustrates is that our political parties are
controlled by “bosses,” here personified by Mitch McConnell for the
Republicans, who seek to short circuit the popular will whenever that is
necessary to preserve the status quo and the bosses’ power and status. One
quote captures this very well: ““I think people here are frustrated,
and they have bought into this narrative that Mitch McConnell is to blame, that
he’s incompetent, that he’s part of the establishment, that he’s controlled by
special interests and synonymous with the status quo.”
This
is a fairly accurate assessment of what is going on – although I would say that
McConnell is not incompetent and that he is not controlled by the special
interests – which is why the “frustrated people” are buying “into this
narrative.” After all, “the narrative” is accurate! They, the frustrated, are
beginning to see that their “representatives” in D.C. are not so much
interested in representing them as controlling them in order to preserve the
status quo. They are even beginning to suspect that the mainstream Republicans
never intended to repeal and replace the ACA, insofar as they had seven years
to come up with a replacement and did not do it. That is, they are catching on that
those who claim to represent them and seek to turn their wants into legislation
and other policies are more interested in preserving the status quo, interested
in controlling them and not in representing them.
The
thing is: Our political parties and its leaders, its bosses, are not in the
game of embracing democracy but, rather, are in the game of stifling democracy
or rule by the people. This is, as the election in Alabama illustrated, as true
of Donald Trump as it is of Mitch McConnell. It is also as true of Democratic
Party as it is of the Republican Party. What are called “special interests”
take part in this project but they are not playing the lead roles therein. It
is within this project of preserving the status quo that these groups seek to
promote their interests.
People
are frustrated across the political spectrum, as evidenced by the relative success
of Bernie Sanders’ challenge to Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination
for president last year. And their frustration stems from two facts, not taken into
account by our conventional wisdom regarding our politics: (1) Our politicians
are not, for the most part, people of “good will” who are “well intentioned,”
trying to serve the people’s interests and desires. And (2) our political
parties are not devoted to making democracy work but are, rather, devoted to
ensuring that democracy doesn’t work so their bosses can preserve their power
and status.
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