Political nationalization

Malcolm Durfee O'Brien, managing editor

One of the great problems the people of this country face is the fact that many of them vote for candidates and ideas blatantly in opposition to their own interests. This is a major driver in the polarization of this country, as the nation’s representatives rarely actually fight for the people they were elected to. 

This is primarily due to the nationalization of politics. Rarely do candidates running not mention, to some extent, the ideals of the national party. Local issues have all but been ignored, and they tend to have answers that are not necessarily in line with the ideas of the electorates. When Kavanaugh was confirmed, local issues got completely ignored by GOP Senate candidates, so people were no longer voting for issues that actually mattered to their own lives’, such as healthcare or tax relief, and had their attentions entirely moved to an “unhinged mob” in DC. They didn’t vote for their interests in this way. In this way, they increased polarization by allowing themselves to vote out moderate voices for extremists. 

It does not make sense for farmers to vote for Republican candidates. The policies of the party are in total combat with their interests, the party opposes taxation, which would make farm subsidies, a favorite program for farmers, impossible to provide. The party’s newfound opposition to free trade completely obliterates the economic future for farmers, as they can and will make far more money overseas than at home. Why do they do it? It is because they tend to dissociate politics from economic success. They tend to see politics as a one-issue game, and this one issue can be one of many, but rarely, if ever, is it from a business point of view. This means their Representatives do not represent the economic interests of farmers. So, how do they get someone who will represent their interests? The Democrats have actually already found the answer, but rarely actually use it: run local. Connect every issue to the district, not to issues in DC or in faraway lands. Make the people understand the issue, how the economic policies they support will help them. The same can be said for educated voters, who tend to vote Democrat. Republican candidates could easily nominate someone who runs with local issues, not with national ones. 

This is another way to fix America, and, ironically to unite it. By recognizing this country not as a whole, but as a series of unique and divided localities, this nation’s representation’s ideas will increase in diversity and bust gridlock through shared interests. We must unite through division.