Often, the strategy of tic-tac-toe is not to win, but to prevent your opponent from beating you at all costs. This victory often results in a “cat’s game” where neither player wins, but neither has been beat. After listening to President Obama call again for bipartisanship in his first State of the Union Address, the parallel between the childhood game and the way our government works became glaringly obvious.
If you didn’t catch the speech last Wednesday, one of Obama’s goals for the year was to foster a more cohesive, bipartisan government, something he had first called for upon his inauguration. He referred to the division between our political parties as the “stalemate between the left and right” and beseeched Washington to end “opposition for opposition’s sake.” To some, this brief segment of his speech was moving, and a sign that it was time to focus more on the issues at hand than party loyalty. To the politicians of Washington, however, it was a direct attack.
In his speech, Obama clearly stated that partisan politics have “stopped either party from helping the American people,” not pointing a finger at either group. He then went on to chide both the Democratic party for not using their “largest majority in decades” to its full extent and the Republican party for not displaying “good leadership” by “just saying no” to all Democratic proposals. His entire spiel on working toward a more unified government made up roughly 400 words out of more than 7,000 that he spoke, not even a tenth of his speech, yet it is the part media are jumping on.
Republicans seem to be the most upset over this part of the speech, and Fox News’ Sean Hannity best sums up their attitude with an article entitled, “No Bipartisanship for Obama” two days later, proving he thought long and hard over whether to play nice with the Democrats or not. On the other side, as a reaction to the speech as reported by the New Britain Herald, Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., stated, “The president called on the minority in the Senate to use their power responsibly — not just to obstruct progress…” — an obvious dig at Republicans. To further prove neither party would make an honest effort toward a more unified front, the day after Obama’s speech the Senate voted neatly along party lines to raise the nation’s debt limits. On a local level, that same day our own state Legislature voted to include teaching about contraceptives to high school health classes curriculum, with all Democrats for it and all Republicans against it.
It’s pretty clear change will be slow coming — it if comes at all. But what is most disheartening of all is that instead of considering Obama’s words, both parties seem to have become indignant and irate. Obama himself admitted the differences in political opinion are “the very essence of our democracy,” but that should not mean politicians stand united behind their party at the cost of seriously looking at issues. Obama also states there are “philosophical differences that will always cause us to part ways,” but the differences should be reactionary, not premeditated. As one National Public Radio article stated, partisanship does not mean giving up ideals, but working together toward civility. Our government won’t accomplish anything if one party goes around thwarting the other just because they can. This year it looks like it’s the Republicans doing the thwarting, but it has gone back and forth between parties for nearly all of our history.
One of the pivotal moments in Obama’s speech was when he asked “How long should America put its future on hold?” As the nation’s youth, we should all hope the answer is not long. If we have to wait for the Democrats to stop bickering with the Republicans, for candidates from both parties to stop making empty promises and false allegations against each other for the sole purpose of being elected, or for parties to stop undermining a president that the nation elected because they don’t agree entirely with his politics, we will forever be living in a country where nothing gets done.
It seems as though party politics are leaning too far toward the childish mindset that “if I can’t have my way, then you shouldn’t either.” and the fear is that they have become more concerned with politics than issues, polls than the actual people. In response to the speech, Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich has admitted to the Associated Press that “clearly, the American people want us to work together” and it is our job to remind the government who they are working for. Whether you support Obama or not, we should all agree what is important is America’s future, not maintaining arbitrary party divisions of the past.
Allegra Dimperio ([email protected]) is a freshman majoring in theatre and intending to major in journalism.
