It's Coming

According to the Washington Post (among others), Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist has filed a motion to close off debate on judicial nominees. The nuclear option is coming.

Despite efforts by the so-called Gang of 12, the vote on chaining the rules is coming. There has been a lot of talk about the constitutionality or propriety of changing the rules. I have heard all kinds of arguments, from tradition to minority rights. But the real problem is not a power grab by the GOP or the whiny self-righteousness of the Democrats, but rather the problem is the dichotomy between red state and blue state mentality.

Having studied history and political science for a while, I am struck by how divisive this particular issue is. In the end we are really only talking about a relatively minor rule change that could have implications on judicial nominees in the future, including Supreme Court justices. But the fact that so many people feel so strongly about it concerns me in that we, as a nation, seem to have lost the ability to agree to disagree. Arguments and differences of opinions between opposing sides no longer have the tone of genial respect, but rather the acrid tone of a battle to the death.

The nuclear option is, I believe, the result of two different factors that have destroyed an atmosphere of respectful disagreement. Those factors are the constant campaign and rapid air transit. These two factors have led Senators and Representatives to spend more time in their home districts than in Washington DC, meaning there is no effort by either side to spend time outside of the arena, talking about themselves, their similarities and politics. In short there is no time for informal compromises to form in the formal solutions.

The cost of campaigning, even for Senators, means that Senators and Representatives have to spend an inordinate amount of time on the constant campaign. They spend time in their home districts or their out of state campaign trail to raise money for a re-election campaign that may not come for six years. Thus instead of staying in Washington and talking, Senators rush out of town on Thursday evening or Friday to get back home to campaign. While being close to the electorate that sent them to office is important, one would think that the electorate expects their Senators and representatives to talk and solve problems of public policy.

So how to counteract this problem. One way could be to eliminate the need for constant campaigning by enacting a proposal to limit campaign fundraising to the election year only. Without the need to go home to campaign, Senators and representatives would be spending a little more time in Washington, at least for one year of every Congress.

The second factor is rapid air travel. In the days before air travel, Congress came to town for a few months at a time. They lived here, worked here and even played here. Thus Members of Congress, even from different parties would see each other outside of work, away from the Chambers and committee rooms. Friendships would form, often across party lines, that lead to working relationship that accomplished much. But with the availability of rapid travel and multiple departures for other parts of the nation, the restriction of time to travel no longer applies. Thus a Senator or Representative can leave after the last vote on Thursday (traditionally no later than 6 pm) and still get home to the West Coast before midnight local time.

Again, while rapid transit allows for elected officials to remain closer to their constituents, it creates an atmosphere of strangers working together, strangers who lack knowledge of and trust in the good natures of the opposing side.

Because there is no "forced" proximity among our elected officials in Washington, the partisan rancor and political posturing have become the staples of our national legislature. With nothing to lose in the nature of friendship, respect, and potential for working relationships, Members feel they can act with a certain amount of disdain for the opposing side, leading to the extreme positions taken by each party, extreme positions with little appetite for compromise. In essence, the atmosphere cannot help but create the circumstances for the nuclear option.