I was disappointed to find yet another column by Joe Smyth in the Opinion section a couple weeks ago, the third in barely eight weeks’ time — the first Oct. 29 and the second Nov. 13 (“Is it time to quit both political parties?” Dec. 17). Each column begins with a thought-provoking question or idea — open primaries, bipartisan moderate female candidates, quitting both political parties — but eventually devolves into the same false equivalencies, misinformation and avoidance of any actual fact or event that don’t fit his theories, ending with an ever-stronger and ever-smoother advertisement for the No Labels group.
In October, Mr. Smyth’s article promulgated the shameful and false equivalency that the parties — and, therefore, their candidates — are of the same ilk. They are not. Joe Biden ran and is running again on a platform of knowing how to work well with others and understanding that politics is the art of the possible only when both sides compromise. Mr. Donald Trump is running on continuing the “Big Lie” and instituting Project 2025, which would trash the civil service program, consolidate all power in the presidency and punish anyone who disagrees with him. Joe Biden is a left-leaning moderate, and Donald Trump is a far-right authoritarian. These descriptions are born out by public record.
Perhaps Mr. Smyth missed the news that the previous GOP speaker lost his job because he worked out a reasonable deal with President Biden to keep the government running. Maybe he was on vacation when the Biden bills to repair infrastructure, assure Medicare drug bargaining and strengthen the Violence Against Women Act, plus climate change legislation — and the list is much longer — became law. Perhaps his TV was broken when the present GOP speaker closed the House session for the holidays rather than compromising on funding aid to Ukraine and Israel, etc., by once again using rising immigration problems as a cudgel to return to the days of kids in cages after they’ve been separated from their parents without any record keeping; it does make one wonder if the GOP has consistently refused to work on any immigration solution other than its own because it’s more valuable to use as ransom.
Mr. Smyth offers moderates No Labels as a solution (see No Labels notes on December column). His suggestions include Nikki Haley, who not only has virtually no record of working with Democrats but who vows to vote for Trump even if he is a convicted felon; Joe Manchin, who has sabotaged efforts to curtail fossil fuel production, since the coal industry is the source of his great wealth; and Krysten Sinema, who gets almost all her money these days from Republican megadonors, likely in exchange for trashing every bill they don’t like. I am delighted that more women are running for and winning public office, but the women mentioned are not moderate.
In November, Mr. Smyth bemoaned the fact that the primaries are run by the parties for their own members rather than being open to all voters, insisting that such an arrangement would force candidates to appeal to the center. Not really, sir. Because the parties are very different, people look to know the governing philosophy and plans of each candidate — showcased by debates within each party — and if that matches theirs, they vote for that candidate. In Delaware, if the would-be candidate pays the fee ($5,000 for the last election) and garners the requisite number of signatures, that name is on the ballot. This law should be everywhere. And perhaps we should instead consider supporting the ability of a registered independent to vote in either primary.
The scourge of gerrymandering can be blamed for lots of problems, but the primary system isn’t one of them. As a side note, most of the heaviest off-kilter districts in this country — so unbalanced that they have been forced by the courts to redraw their districts but have refused to do so — are controlled by Republican legislatures.
In December, once again, Mr. Smyth falsely insists that both parties are “more interested in power, money and demonizing the opposition.” In his wistful paragraph about campaign finance, he seems to have forgotten about the McCain-Feingold bill and the GOP operatives who destroyed it. He has also forgotten about how a conservative Supreme Court deemed that companies are people, absurd on its face and in its gut. So, he offers instead his favorite group as the solution.
No Labels is not an upstart group with pure, nonpartisan motives, as he describes. It is a dark-money group around for close to a dozen years, only recently naming some “acceptable” donors, though it is quick to say that it is not required to disclose anything about the $75 million raised (as of July). Its list includes Harlan Crow — the billionaire sponsor (owner?) of Clarence Thomas — among other very wealthy individuals and huge companies that hate the idea of paying their fair share of taxes, which is a part of Joe Biden’s campaign and the Democratic Party platform. To be frank, this organization strongly appears to be a feint for the Republican Party, creating a distraction in an effort to pull votes from Joe Biden and reelect Donald Trump.
There is indeed a lack of enthusiasm for both candidates — for entirely different reasons. It must be noted that there is an estimate of around 40% of the populace who vow to vote for Trump no matter what. But there is a real difference in the approach to and the philosophy of governing between these two and their parties. And it should be remembered that none of the candidates in the last 70 years has been without serious flaws — none.
I want to know what people think and why and how they formed their opinions. But finding out has to be based on real events, actual programs and past accomplishments. I am tired of grievance, pie-in-the-sky suggestions of impossible tickets and looking at organizations that pretend to be what they are not. And I don’t want to read articles that seem to be thinly disguised commercials for any of the above.
Janis Gaddis
Dover
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
