Dear Chuck Todd: Let's Talk About What Makes Governing Harder

Yesterday I wrote about my reaction to an article in the NYT by Jonathan Martin and Maggie Haberman about Hillary Clinton's strategy for winning the 2016 presidential election. This morning Chuck Todd and his friends at First Read took up the conventional wisdom of the DC villagers in response to the same article with their headline: This is the Way to Win Elections (But it Makes Governing Harder).

Campaigns see an America more polarized than ever, and winning is all about coming out ahead in this polarized world. But it makes governing harder than it already was. Bottom line: Campaigns don't engage in persuasion anymore. They simply look for unmotivated like-minded potential voters and find an issue to motivate them. And if someone wins office by not having to persuade a voter who actually swings between the two parties, there isn't any motivation for said elected official to compromise.

This is a classic case of the media's addiction to "both sides do it" as a way of explaining gridlock in Washington. It is a lie they tell themselves (and us) about what is going on in order to claim a false sense of balance in reporting to appease the right wing noise machine that constantly decries the "liberal media." The fact that it is a lie matters less than their desire to prove that claim wrong.

So let's take a moment to deal with the facts. As I pointed out before, the positions Hillary Clinton has articulated enjoy broad support among voters - including independents. In reacting to the same article, Steve M. dug up some of the actual numbers.

Americans support gay marriage by a 60%-37% margin, and 58% want the Supreme Court to legalize gay marriage nationwide -- and Hillary's is a "liberal position"? There's 72% support for legalization of undocumented immigrants -- and her position on immigration is too left-wing? And when I Google "bipartisan support for criminal justice reform," one of the first hits is a post with precisely that title from, um, FreedomWorks -- but Clinton's out of the mainstream? Oh, please.

So if Clinton is talking about issues that enjoy 60-70% support from Americans, where is the polarization coming from? What stops elected officials from compromising to address their concerns? Do you suppose it has anything to do with a Republican Speaker of the House who finds it hard to even utter the word "compromise?"


Let's take a close look at just one example to make the point: immigration reform. Typically Democrats have prioritized a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented people in this country while Republicans have prioritized border security. To begin the conversation, President Obama built up border security starting early in his first term. And then, not that long ago, a bi-partisan group of Senators got together to "compromise" by drafting a bill that included both priorities. With Democrats still in control of the Senate, it passed there. But Speaker Boehner refused to bring it up for a vote in the House. Part of Hillary Clinton's agenda in her campaign is to support the Senate's bi-partisan approach to immigration reform.

So let's be clear about what makes governing harder: the problem is that we have one political party that is catering to an ever-decreasing group of voters and completely rejects any form of compromise to their agenda. When/if folks like Chuck Todd figure that one out - we will finally be able to stop the lies and start telling the American people the truth.