Learning from George Washington and Independents
As long as there have been politics in America there have been independents. While it is more typical to think of politics in terms of two parties duking it out with polarized viewpoints, the two-party system as we know it didn't come into being until after George Washington was president.
As our new country learned how to govern ourselves, the main argument that split into the first political parties was whether the national government should have final power over state governments, or if states should be able to make decisions that trump national laws. This is a core debate that continues today in everything from Obamacare to medical marijuana and gun control.
But when George Washington first became president, he wasn't part of a political party, and he never wanted to be. He used his presidency to model behavior for future presidents, and in his farewell address said:
However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.
Smart guy. That sounds incredibly familiar to what is going on with the Congress right now.
While no other president took office claiming to be an Independent, John Tyler lost the support of his Whig party early in his administration and served out much of his term without a party to claim. He tried a lot of things but got little support from anyone, which reminds me a bit of the tough-talking Jesse Ventura, independent governor of Minnesota and former professional wrestling personality.
Are there any independents now? The most notable is Senator Joe Lieberman who used to be a Democrat and he still caucuses with the Democrats. He uses his position to help bridge the gap between the Democrats and Republicans.
While we feel entrenched in the two-party system, I feel the rumblings in the news of people wanting to move toward something non-partisan and more centrist, so there could be a space for the independent voter once more.
I think the biggest thing we can learn from Independents, and George Washington's quote in particular, is that parties are not the answer- the people who love the country are. Imagine if we thought about elections this way...
Image courtesy of Joye~ via flickr