Understanding the American Political System

It would be 47 years ago in 1975 when I was fortunate enough to be elected to the post of Ward One City Councilman in Concord, New Hampshire. I would be re-elected for a subsequent second term two years later. Those were somewhat similar times and the climate in the political world was eerily similar with so much controversy swirling around. Two years later I would go on to be elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives. I always refer to that time in my life as a “great learning experience” regarding how the American political system works.

Carter had narrowly defeated President Gerald Ford who had ascended to the Presidency after the resignation of Ricard Nixon. The resignation of Nixon on the heels of the Watergate debacle and the embarrassing scandal regarding Spiro Agnew would rock the American political foundations, but our Constitution and the Republic would remain strong. The economy unfortunately would falter as interest rates would skyrocket and the faith of the American people would be somewhat shaken.

Our nation once again is in a somewhat confusing state as I write this, and that is unfortunate as we look ahead two weeks from now to a midterm election date of November 8. Our nation looks for leadership, both on the national scene as well as locally. The popular phrase, “all politics is local” rings in the ears of many who follow the political games on both the national and local scene. We are fortunate that our own political fortunes have remained relatively strong over these last two years and our own governor has remained quite strong during his first term in office and the state of our economy has been remarkably healthy throughout the pandemic and the slide in the national economy, but that is not given without continued strong leadership.

My comments to you this evening however deal with the terrible negativity and the rise of hate filled rhetoric which has descended upon our own local political scene. I find the continued repugnant flooding of our mailboxes both digitally and in our mailboxes at the side of the street to be very worrisome and unrelenting.

This is not something that is representative of our community and the history of our island. What kind of a lesson are we presenting to the younger generation who I hope would represent our hope for the future.

I learned early on to encourage youngsters that played sports for me to accept defeat with your head held high and be magnanimous in victory. No matter how hard it is to swallow defeat, we should learn to let it be the fuel in their tank to propel us to victory in our next encounter.

The polarization in American politics could fracture this nation beyond repair in my opinion. We have so much more that unites us than divides us but will continue to lead us down this road that turns politics into a “blood sport,” and may be the demise of our nation.

Are we really a society that believes the louder we yell in opposition to an idea the better chance we have in convincing the other side there is validity in our position. That rationale gains us nothing in life and will lead to the lack of solutions to problems and the lack of progress to making this a better world.

The emergence of social media has also helped to lead toward the polarization of our nation, as citizens are so overwhelmed by the lack of substance and validity of the information being distributed by some of these sources whose only desire to promote a message devoid of truth and based in facts.

Social media does have a place in the modern world, however as the late President Reagan would say, “trust but verify.” We should never accept anything at face value in today’s world, but ensure it is factual before it is accepted as fact.

In today’s political atmosphere we must first agree that “victory” for our cause should not be our primary goal, but a valid solution to the issues before us should first and foremost be the goal in finding solutions for those challenges that face us. Failure to do so will continue to fracture the delicate democratic process that has served American Democracy so well over the years.