I have written several times that I'm concerned about the direction of our country and in particular concerned about the prospects of another civil war. I don't say this for the hyperbole but I say it because there are danger signs everywhere.
The next two election cycles will go a long way to determining how we interact with each other going forward. If we get more of the same bullshit like we had with the 2020 Presidential election where a sitting President worked feverishly to overthrow a free and fair election while getting his base so fired up that they tried to hang the Vice-President for not helping overturn the election, then we are in big trouble.
I'm afraid we are headed in that direction. Already, in the primaries, a Trump backed candidate for the GOP nomination for Governor of Georgia received less than 3% of the vote. She refused to concede the election and is adamant that there was corruption involved with her loss. Yes she is a nut but you see my point here. This can't keep happening.
It is also becoming increasingly clear that while a big chunk of the American voting public is aching for a return to some sort of middle ground in politics, the reality is that anyone who calls themselves a moderate, in either party, is getting crushed by their far edge wing.
I recently had two separate conversations with friends that are conservative and both expressed the same things about the state of politics today. One friend has nothing to do with politics other than being an active listener and observer. The other friends have both been extremely involved in politics for most of their professional lives. In fact both have held Chief of Staff positions with multiple congressmen over the years and were, are, still involved with politics to a degree.
While I don't necessarily agree with any of them on ideology for certain topics, we do agree that it is time for the country to get back to the days where our political leaders worked together to help make our country better.
We are never going to agree on gun control, abortion, or the border, but certainly we all can agree that our infrastructure needs to be repaired, inflation needs to get back under control, and keeping children safe in our schools are not Democrat against Republican issues. These affect us all. Why can't we come together on some of these?
The surprising answer from all three was the same. The influence of social media has changed how politics operates today. In the past, politicians could gather in the back rooms and work out agreements on some of these areas, vote them in, and go on their merry way.
Today, between social media and the 24 hour news coverage on cable TV, if you are even seen talking to the other side you are immediately called out and vilified until you cave in and go along with the leaderships wants.
Someone like Liz Cheney, for example, who is unrelentingly conservative is being primaried in Wyoming because she dared to speak the truth. Trump lost the election and there was no illegal voting that caused it to happen. This has caused her to be tossed out of the GOP caucus and become persona non gratis within the party. Ridiculous.
The same is happening for any moderate Democrat running for reelection. The far left is primarying them and they are losing handily. Unfortunately the extremes of both parties are still running the shows and we are getting farther and farther away from any middle ground on any topic. Right now we can't agree that the sun comes up in the East and sets in the West.
It is inevitable that trying to govern by extremism is not going to survive. Once one side gains domination, and they ultimately will, the country will crumble under the weight of ideology with no common sense governance.
We have the chance to take back how we run things starting in November by voting in people who are willing to work with the other side to fix the things that need fixing here. Six months ago I would have told you to make sure you vote out any Republican who is running for office but today that is not the answer.
Instead, elect the candidate that has said that he, or she, is willing to work with the other side to bring this country back towards the middle where we can all be in a better place. The future of the country is in our hands and it starts in November.