We’re less than three months into a new presidential term and it’s already clear that a sizable number of Americans have lost their minds over politics.
I think you are too online. The largest party in the United States right now are the independents. They have checked out of partisanship, and they aren't the ones screaming on social media. I don't know whether squeaky wheels get the drinks, but they sure do get disproportionately noticed. The problem is that these unaligned individuals are greatly disincentivized to participate in politics because who wants to spend time with delusional crazies?
I feel strongly that commentary in this area of partisanship lacks discussion of the election system structure that leads to this partisanship. As Kathleen Weber touches on above, there is a huge swath of independents that think both parties are terrible, but since there are only two choices, we end up making a choice and then naturally feeling defensive about our choice … which leads to partisanship.
Politicians must adhere to the two party system. It’s just not practical to run as an independent. You take votes away from the main-party candidate that is “less bad” (from whatever flank you hew toward) than the other main-party candidate and therefore it’s a losing proposition for your like-minded voters.
So then throw in the primary system, which essentially serves to penalize moderate candidates because it’s mostly highly partisan voters that participate. Politicians have to worry about a “primary challenge” on the left/right. And by the way— highly partisan people are the most likely to give money to candidates, so candidates cater to them.
Then throw in Congress, which is essentially a brick wall unless the election handed complete control to one party. In 2024, voters did exactly that and so the party in power can actually implement their agenda.
So partisanship is an almost necessary phenomenon in the American system because otherwise you either (a) don’t make it into power or (b) can’t implement your agenda when you get there.
These are all solved problems by other countries but we don’t even broadly acknowledge them as problems let alone as root causes— we keep blaming people’s thoughts and actions, or we blame media.
I have finally subscribed. I'm not liberal. However, I've been reading your posts for 'awhile' now & wish each "side" could read & discuss in the same way you do.
Different realities for sure. I just read an article on Vox titled "Why Harris Lost" or something like that. Very data based article slicing and dicing various demographics and issues. But a really telling passage was their discussion of "less informed" voters supporting Trump. It seems that the definition of less informed was people that consume different media than we do. This way lies ruin. Newspapers and TV have a declining business model and are skewed much further left than the country as a whole. Other commentary (e.g. Van Jones) have noted that Joe Rogan's podcast with Trump had more audience views that the entire CNN stable. Rogan is no right winger but compared to the NYT, he seems that way.
I suspect most Republicans already look at politics the way Mr. Halpin recommends. The truth is that Trump is a centrist Republican from New York. His politics are of the Rockefeller variety. The extreme opposition to Trump is not political as much as it is personal and irrational. It's his attitude they hate. Trump, of course, knows this and gaslights them when he can, which predictably increases the contempt on the other side.
I'm a Republican who voted against Trump in the primary. But I believe Trump will make America better if not "great again." I believe this because Trump is a centrist and has built a coalition that can and probably will grow in the future. Like Nixon, who was the victim of a coup, he has activated the Silent Majority.
The Democrats on the other hand are stuck in the politics of hysteria after their resounding defeat. They need to re-embrace the old saying, "If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging."😉
An area where a potential bipartisan consensus can be achieved is in permitting perform so that needed infrastructure can be built faster and at lower cost. The Manchin-Barrosso Energy Permitting Reform Legislation that was introduced in 2024 is a good starting point.
No Labels enables citizens like me to support both R's and D's who are willing to work together to solve problems rather than score partisan points. It feels good to have friends in all parties that I can learn from and who respect legislators from both parties. Nolabels.org Dorsey
I look forward to opening The Liberal Patriot every day which unfailingly provides the refreshing voice of reason that I and so many of my family and friends need for our sanity. I am grateful to be reminded that it is possible to communicate in language that is not inflammatory. I wish there 20 of you for any one of the brilliant but destructive commentators. And I agree with Kathleen above. How can you become more visible?
Take care of your health, we need you. All of you, TLP
John this is what Republicans BEGGED for for years, regardless of who was the President. Didn't work.
So now we are way, way beyond that. There was a period in 1862 when Abraham Lincoln finally understood that to win the war he had to CRUSH the South and free all slaves. There was no more "reaching across the aisle," McCain style. Republicans saw, after 20 years, that everytime they "reached across the aisle" they were the ones who lost. Government grew and grew, Democrat presidents did what they wanted, while Rs got stopped, and everyone in DC got rich while the country suffered.
You cannot put Humpty Dumpty back together again. One side in this fight must lose, and lose dramatically before "bipartisanship" can be rebuilt as it was in Germany after WW II. But first one side must admit defeat, that its ideas not only were wrong but deadly, and that a new foundation must exclude woke, transoidism, illegal invasion, and being "world policeman." Then we can talk about how to fix the remaining problems.
I think that there are some on the Republican side who would like to discuss policies with Democrats, but the radicals in the Democratic party won't allow anyone to deviate one little bit from the party line, which is Resistance! at all costs. So it's much easier to ignore them and forge ahead with what the people elected them to do. As has been observed by almost everyone, including writers on this Substack, it is impossible to talk to hard Lefties because they allow no dissent at all from their views, and scream obscenities rather than listen. They assert controversial opinions as facts, and then evolve other opinions and policy ideas from these incorrect facts. There can be no debate because they again scream if the truth of their "facts" is challenged. I have sincerely tried to read articles by hard Lefties to learn what they are about, but I usually quit halfway through because the unreality and outright lies are too much to take. I can read articles by thoughtful liberals, like this Substack, because the authors agree with me on basic facts, though we might differ in the opinions and policy recommendations derived from these facts. Until the hard Left is kicked out of power, destroyed, or otherwise rendered irrelevant, the polarization will continue. We need to agree on the basic facts of what our problems are before we can even start to discuss solutions. I don't know how that will happen as long as the hard Left controls the Democratic party.
I've written similar thoughts in other places before, before I left those places. The far left love their echo chamber. Those who scream the loudest believe they win.
However, I also believe, unfortunately, that those on the far right could believe the same, in a different way. Some of those elected representatives might scream loudest. But some R's might cower. Then the far right call them RINO.
Thanks John! I have said for a long time the two greatest problems we have in this country are the Democratic and Republican parties and the media that creates the reality show. If we can get big money out of the game, it might give the average citizen a chance to succeed. Thinking local and staying focused on grass roots issues and our elected representatives might be the way we gain control. Maybe a third to fourth party would force cooperation. Two parties; only two choices.
I once had an amusing thought exercise that would never happen.
A non binding anonymous straw poll before every vote. Electronic button, can be pressed by a staffer at the congresscritter's behest. Over the course of two minutes so it takes little time, each member must vote in order to be eligible to vote in the final real vote.
Just to see how senators and congress members really think. I'd suspect some surprises.
I am an unaffiliated voter who voted for Obama twice, but right now, I find it difficult to like any of the Democrat Party's mostly far left agenda, and now violence. Yuk!
The GOP congress has checked out, and Trump and DOGE seem to be making many of the decisions about policy and budget priorities, dismantling and eliminating previously approved expenditures, and putting Trump loyalists in key positions regardless of their qualifications. This isn't how it's supposed to work. It will be interesting to see if we even have elections in 2026 and 2028.
I think you are too online. The largest party in the United States right now are the independents. They have checked out of partisanship, and they aren't the ones screaming on social media. I don't know whether squeaky wheels get the drinks, but they sure do get disproportionately noticed. The problem is that these unaligned individuals are greatly disincentivized to participate in politics because who wants to spend time with delusional crazies?
I feel strongly that commentary in this area of partisanship lacks discussion of the election system structure that leads to this partisanship. As Kathleen Weber touches on above, there is a huge swath of independents that think both parties are terrible, but since there are only two choices, we end up making a choice and then naturally feeling defensive about our choice … which leads to partisanship.
Politicians must adhere to the two party system. It’s just not practical to run as an independent. You take votes away from the main-party candidate that is “less bad” (from whatever flank you hew toward) than the other main-party candidate and therefore it’s a losing proposition for your like-minded voters.
So then throw in the primary system, which essentially serves to penalize moderate candidates because it’s mostly highly partisan voters that participate. Politicians have to worry about a “primary challenge” on the left/right. And by the way— highly partisan people are the most likely to give money to candidates, so candidates cater to them.
Then throw in Congress, which is essentially a brick wall unless the election handed complete control to one party. In 2024, voters did exactly that and so the party in power can actually implement their agenda.
So partisanship is an almost necessary phenomenon in the American system because otherwise you either (a) don’t make it into power or (b) can’t implement your agenda when you get there.
These are all solved problems by other countries but we don’t even broadly acknowledge them as problems let alone as root causes— we keep blaming people’s thoughts and actions, or we blame media.
I have finally subscribed. I'm not liberal. However, I've been reading your posts for 'awhile' now & wish each "side" could read & discuss in the same way you do.
Thanks so much!
I am not liberal either. I subscribe so I can learn more about the other side, and this Substack has been thoughtful and most informative. Thank you.
Different realities for sure. I just read an article on Vox titled "Why Harris Lost" or something like that. Very data based article slicing and dicing various demographics and issues. But a really telling passage was their discussion of "less informed" voters supporting Trump. It seems that the definition of less informed was people that consume different media than we do. This way lies ruin. Newspapers and TV have a declining business model and are skewed much further left than the country as a whole. Other commentary (e.g. Van Jones) have noted that Joe Rogan's podcast with Trump had more audience views that the entire CNN stable. Rogan is no right winger but compared to the NYT, he seems that way.
I suspect most Republicans already look at politics the way Mr. Halpin recommends. The truth is that Trump is a centrist Republican from New York. His politics are of the Rockefeller variety. The extreme opposition to Trump is not political as much as it is personal and irrational. It's his attitude they hate. Trump, of course, knows this and gaslights them when he can, which predictably increases the contempt on the other side.
I'm a Republican who voted against Trump in the primary. But I believe Trump will make America better if not "great again." I believe this because Trump is a centrist and has built a coalition that can and probably will grow in the future. Like Nixon, who was the victim of a coup, he has activated the Silent Majority.
The Democrats on the other hand are stuck in the politics of hysteria after their resounding defeat. They need to re-embrace the old saying, "If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging."😉
Could not agree more.
This is why I subscribe! Thank You! I'm trying my best to do the things you describe in this article. Also - please hug your dogs for me.
Very much appreciated, thank you. Dogs are old now but still loving life.
An area where a potential bipartisan consensus can be achieved is in permitting perform so that needed infrastructure can be built faster and at lower cost. The Manchin-Barrosso Energy Permitting Reform Legislation that was introduced in 2024 is a good starting point.
No Labels enables citizens like me to support both R's and D's who are willing to work together to solve problems rather than score partisan points. It feels good to have friends in all parties that I can learn from and who respect legislators from both parties. Nolabels.org Dorsey
John,
I look forward to opening The Liberal Patriot every day which unfailingly provides the refreshing voice of reason that I and so many of my family and friends need for our sanity. I am grateful to be reminded that it is possible to communicate in language that is not inflammatory. I wish there 20 of you for any one of the brilliant but destructive commentators. And I agree with Kathleen above. How can you become more visible?
Take care of your health, we need you. All of you, TLP
Laurie James
John this is what Republicans BEGGED for for years, regardless of who was the President. Didn't work.
So now we are way, way beyond that. There was a period in 1862 when Abraham Lincoln finally understood that to win the war he had to CRUSH the South and free all slaves. There was no more "reaching across the aisle," McCain style. Republicans saw, after 20 years, that everytime they "reached across the aisle" they were the ones who lost. Government grew and grew, Democrat presidents did what they wanted, while Rs got stopped, and everyone in DC got rich while the country suffered.
You cannot put Humpty Dumpty back together again. One side in this fight must lose, and lose dramatically before "bipartisanship" can be rebuilt as it was in Germany after WW II. But first one side must admit defeat, that its ideas not only were wrong but deadly, and that a new foundation must exclude woke, transoidism, illegal invasion, and being "world policeman." Then we can talk about how to fix the remaining problems.
I think that there are some on the Republican side who would like to discuss policies with Democrats, but the radicals in the Democratic party won't allow anyone to deviate one little bit from the party line, which is Resistance! at all costs. So it's much easier to ignore them and forge ahead with what the people elected them to do. As has been observed by almost everyone, including writers on this Substack, it is impossible to talk to hard Lefties because they allow no dissent at all from their views, and scream obscenities rather than listen. They assert controversial opinions as facts, and then evolve other opinions and policy ideas from these incorrect facts. There can be no debate because they again scream if the truth of their "facts" is challenged. I have sincerely tried to read articles by hard Lefties to learn what they are about, but I usually quit halfway through because the unreality and outright lies are too much to take. I can read articles by thoughtful liberals, like this Substack, because the authors agree with me on basic facts, though we might differ in the opinions and policy recommendations derived from these facts. Until the hard Left is kicked out of power, destroyed, or otherwise rendered irrelevant, the polarization will continue. We need to agree on the basic facts of what our problems are before we can even start to discuss solutions. I don't know how that will happen as long as the hard Left controls the Democratic party.
I've written similar thoughts in other places before, before I left those places. The far left love their echo chamber. Those who scream the loudest believe they win.
However, I also believe, unfortunately, that those on the far right could believe the same, in a different way. Some of those elected representatives might scream loudest. But some R's might cower. Then the far right call them RINO.
I want another strong, sane conservative party.
Thanks John! I have said for a long time the two greatest problems we have in this country are the Democratic and Republican parties and the media that creates the reality show. If we can get big money out of the game, it might give the average citizen a chance to succeed. Thinking local and staying focused on grass roots issues and our elected representatives might be the way we gain control. Maybe a third to fourth party would force cooperation. Two parties; only two choices.
an example, whiloe I am a Democrat, I support Lisa Murkowski, an R, because of her integrity and hardwork and courage: https://youtu.be/zN7MNDjuHjg?si=f5nQq7mlYWXAvH6A
Dorsey
Mr. Halpin:
Whenever I notice a politicians being identified as a "problem," I am reminded that, "A good workman doesn't blame his tool."
I once had an amusing thought exercise that would never happen.
A non binding anonymous straw poll before every vote. Electronic button, can be pressed by a staffer at the congresscritter's behest. Over the course of two minutes so it takes little time, each member must vote in order to be eligible to vote in the final real vote.
Just to see how senators and congress members really think. I'd suspect some surprises.
I am an unaffiliated voter who voted for Obama twice, but right now, I find it difficult to like any of the Democrat Party's mostly far left agenda, and now violence. Yuk!
The GOP congress has checked out, and Trump and DOGE seem to be making many of the decisions about policy and budget priorities, dismantling and eliminating previously approved expenditures, and putting Trump loyalists in key positions regardless of their qualifications. This isn't how it's supposed to work. It will be interesting to see if we even have elections in 2026 and 2028.
imo, that last sentence is fear mongering. Up until then, much could be agreed upon...