If George W and Ellen DeGeneres Can be Friends then Gov Cooper, Sen Berger and Rep Moore Can Back H140 October 10, 2019 Vol. XII, No. 9 8:13 am Partisan Districts Are One of the Two Root Causes of Partisan Incivility Partisan districts are one of the two root causes of the partisan incivility in
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If George W and Ellen DeGeneres Can be Friends then Gov Cooper, Sen Berger and Rep Moore Can Back H140
October 10, 2019 Vol. XII, No. 9 8:13 am
Partisan Districts Are One of the Two Root Causes of Partisan Incivility
Partisan districts are one of the two root causes of the partisan incivility in America today. That’s because partisan zealots who live in those districts demand that their representatives stick to partisan ideals, even if nothing gets done. Compromise with the enemy and you lose your next primary race.
Ideals have become more important than deals. Republican ideals and Democratic ideals; the ideals of African-American voters and Hispanic voters in their majority-minority districts. Deal making, essential to incremental progress on the needs of the state and nation, has become an act of betrayal.
Too many partisan districts in a state guarantees ongoing ideological incivility.
According to an analysis of the latest proposed North Carolina legislative maps conducted by Dr. Michael Bitzer, head of the Catawba College Department of Politics, 102 of 120 House districts are either “likely” to elect one party over the other or clearly “lean” to the favor of one party. Among the 50 Senate districts, 40 are in “likely/lean” districts. The races are over before they start.
This means 85% – 90% of North Carolina lawmakers are elected in partisan districts where the voters actually encourage them not to compromise their partisan values. Or else.
So, how do we end the interminable litigation and redrawing of political maps? By having the voters approve a constitutional amendment next March 3, 2020, establishing a nonpartisan redistricting commission and process for mapmaking, along with criteria, that will give everyone a fair shake.
H140, the FAIR (Fairness and Integrity in Redistricting) Act, a bill in the North Carolina House filed in February, does just that. It calls for a referendum to ask voters to permanently establish in the state constitution the criteria for drawing the state’s political districts that precludes the use of data “which would identify … the voting tendencies of any group of citizens.” See Bill Summary: H140.
The latest Public Policy Polling statewide survey of North Carolina voters shows game changing bipartisan support (62%/9%) for nonpartisan mapping of the state’s political districts. Only 5% of Democratic voters are against nonpartisan maps, only 9% of independent voters are against nonpartisan maps, and most significantly, only 15% of North Carolina Republicans are against nonpartisan maps.
The poll question read: Would you support or oppose changing North Carolina law so that Congressional and Legislative districts are drawn in a nonpartisan fashion? Support/Oppose by partisan affiliation: Democrats 69%/5%; Independents 68%/9%; Republicans 49%/15%.
The timing is right for Democratic Governor Roy Cooper, Republican Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger and Republican House Speaker Tim Moore to get behind a bill like H140.
As Senator Phil Berger said in a September 3, 2019 statement, “Nearly a decade of relentless litigation has strained the legitimacy of this state’s institutions, and the relationship between its leaders, to the breaking point. It’s time to move on.”
Second of the Two Root Causes of Partisan Incivility is Moral Superiority
Moral superiority. That’s the second of the two root causes of partisan incivility in America. Public policy issues have become moral issues. Good versus evil. You can’t compromise your morals. You must not associate with politically immoral voters. Stay huddled at a distance with your moral tribe.
But wait. There is hope! There are signs that many influential Americans are so tired of partisan gridlock that they are willing to demonstrate, by their actions, that civility among partisans is possible. It’s what former President George W. Bush and Laura Bush did last Sunday when they sat with Ellen DeGeneres and her wife at the Dallas Cowboys game. It sparked a liberal outcry.
Monday, on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, Ellen addressed the resentfulness of liberals over her sitting with conservative Republicans at a football game … and appearing to enjoy their company.
“Here’s the thing: I’m friends with George Bush,” DeGeneres began. “In fact, I’m friends with a lot of people who don’t share the same beliefs that I have. We’re all different, and I think we’ve forgotten that that’s ok, that we’re all different…but just because I don’t agree with someone on everything doesn’t mean that I’m not doing to be friends with them.”
DeGeneres concluded, “When I say, ‘be kind to one another,’ I don’t only mean the people that think the same way that you do. I mean be kind to everyone. Doesn’t matter.”
This is how liberal US Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor welcomed new conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the court. She said on The Axe Files that she greeted Justice Kavanaugh the same way Justice Thomas told her he was greeted, “I judge you by what you do here. Welcome.”
“We’re a family,” Justice Sotomayor went on to say, “each of us with our own burdens and our own obligations to others. But this is our work family, and it’s just as important as our personal family.”
We are a nation of political factions gridlocked and estranged; uncivil. The two root causes of incivility are the predominance of partisan districts, where voters demand partisan ideals over deals, and moral superiority, the divisive, self-righteous attitude fostered by too many of today’s partisan leaders.
It’s time to move on from the root causes of political incivility. It’s time to urge our leaders to back a bill like H140, the FAIR Act, that will greatly reduce the number of partisan districts in the state. It’s time to ask our leaders to shift their focus from ideals to deals and to start treating each other like family.
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John N. Davis
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