Weekly Podium: "Common Ground Between the Aisles"

(cross-posted at The New Dominion)

Yes, it is true. For the first time in a long time, both of our major political parties have found some common ground between them.

That common ground, however, is the fact that they are both suffering from rifts within their respective parties.

Despite what you read in the blogs and in the op-ed columns, the polls don't lie. The Democrats are not viewed very favorably by any stretch of the imagination. The same can be said about Republicans, too. This invariably proves that America is tired of the "same song" from both parties.

These rifts and disagreements are occurring at both the national and local levels. The rifts in the GOP have been over policy and general ideology. The rifts between the Democrats seem to be over tactics, hierarchy, and sometimes over simple "he said, she said" issues.

The current state of the GOP strikes me as being similar to the state it was in post-Watergate and between 1992 and 1994, IMO. These rifts tend to ebb and flow, especially when it seems both parties are shifting on a national level.

The GOP shift is more of an ideological shift away from the polarized combination of the moderate/centrist "compassionate conservatism" and the evangelical "religious right"...both are shifting towards a simpler, Reagan-esque conservatism. They're getting away from abortion and same-sex marriage as hot-buttons, and back to national security and the economy as the core issues that drive the party.

While the historians like to state that Reagan was the first presidential candidate whose victory was engineered by the "religious right", Reagan was not big on pushing the evangelical agenda. He had better things to do. He had a Cold War that was turning against the U.S., an economy that was battered and bruised by the end of Jimmy Carter's term in office, and a national spirit to uplift.

On a national level, there has been a very swift and sudden breach of support from Republican voters and President Bush over this immigration bill.

A good example of ideological conflict within the party was right here in the Valley. The 24th State Senate primary between Emmett Hanger and Scott Sayre pitted a difference in ideology over what defines "fiscal conservatism". Hanger appealed to a moderate base, Sayre appealed to a more conservative base. All Bloggers4Sayre talk aside, this race was about a particular issue (among a few smaller issues) that obviously irked many conservatives.

However, the GOP conflict is nothing like the Democratic Party's rising issues. However, the national dissatisfaction with the Dems and the statewide rifts are two separate issues.

The Democratic Party's descent into the cellar of approval ratings comes from several key areas of dissatisfaction. Most notably is the party's lack of deliverance upon their campaign promises. Between the complete dismissal of promised changes in policies and initiatives, the determination to seemingly persecute as many Republicans as possible, and the lack of movement on the anti-war effort, Democratic voters are starting to feel a bit disenchanted with their once-vibrant movement.

Within Congress itself, there has been some apparent grumbling behind closed doors over the lack of unison by the Democrats on the cloture votes during the recent immigration bill debate. There were 12 Democrats that voted against cloture in the final vote, and Harry Reid was quoted as saying "I'll take care of that later". "Later" turned out to be a closed-doors meeting with a quite a bit of criticism doled out to those who did not go along with a vote in favor cloture.

While the immigration debate has been tearing apart the Republican Party, it seems to have been causing quiet, beneath-the-surface feelings of dissent and dissatisfaction within some in the Democratic Party.

On the local level, there seems to be some disagreement between the grassroots and the local party chairs in some areas. The most high profile rift involves 11th Congressional District chair George Burke and a few bloggers over feelings towards each other and several exchanges of words.

I've been traveling across the blogosphere and the op-eds, reading what columnists and bloggers have had to say in other states, and I've noticed increasing amounts of discontent within the Democratic party in other states, as well. This intra-party bickering is not just a Virginia issue, but a much wider problem on many levels for the Democrats.

What this means is that the voters are not happy with the status quo. Whether it be nitpicking and micromanagement of issues by Republicans, or lack of progress by the Democrats, both parties are having their problems.

You may be asking yourself, "What does this all mean? We have a presidential election next year."

Well, it seems both parties are "looking backward" to find inspiration to "look forward". Republicans are looking for a leader to "right the ship", so to speak, like Ronald Reagan did in the early 1980's. As I opined in a previous column, the GOP was once a party of ideas, but they got bogged down in side issues on a lower rung of importance to most conservatives.

The Democrats are a little more divided in their nostalgia. Those who support Hillary Clinton remember the "good ol' days" of Bill Clinton's tenure. Some see Barack Obama as a modern-day JFK, given the comparisons in youth, charisma, and ability to captivate the public with their speeches.

Either way, there is a general dissatisfaction towards our government by the public. While the similarities end there, the fact is that both sides of the aisle need to heed the calls of their base of voters if they want to continue their careers in politics...no matter if they serve in the local town halls, in Richmond, or on Capitol Hill.

Is it just mild discontent, or are we witnessing a small revolution within both parties? Only time, and the mood of the voting public, will tell.