Let’s Not be the Party of Rote

By DON ROLLINS

In her recent book tracing the rise and fall of what some historians consider the last aftershock of the French Revolution (“The Paris Commune: A Brief History”), educator and author Carolyn Eichner reminds Americans in particular that governing a sovereign nation is but one uncertain experiment after another.

Fomented in 1871 by one of France’s many falls from empire, the Commune period was sweeping in scope, only months in duration but bloody in outcome: The country whose founding ideals and documents served to shape our own had entered an experimental phase that could not be reversed, only survived and parsed as a cautionary tale.

Although relatively few experiments in governing have been as epic and costly, the fact is every nation can be understood — if not defined — as the sum of its attempts to adjust to one or more zeitgeist: a war breaks out; an economy fails; a virus spreads; a despot takes control. The change is real. And so a nation, region or even entire world must enter into a time of unwanted experimentation — win, lose or draw.

To bring all this home, the America of early 2023 finds itself cripplingly divided over whether and how to meet such threats. A swamped congressional Left struggles to identify and stick with a flexible model for leading; meanwhile a once approachable opposition party consistently seats candidates and judges without a scintilla of imagination. How to embrace unwanted experiments when most progressives are distracted and most conservatives are flat out clueless?

One noteworthy response to the questions comes from Harvard Political Review contributor Jonah Simon (“Democrats Need a New Playbook: The Value of Bread-and-Butter Politics”, Aug. 24, 2022) who presages last year’s midterms; then calls for Democrats to 1. Govern with creativity; 2. Just assume Republican rigidity and keep moving and 3. Experiment within a trustworthy framework.

Simon warns, “Democrats still haven’t learned the lesson that these seemingly-outlier races clearly teach: Go back to the basics.” Then he offers some specifics:

• Admit there’s a very big problem: “… that means accepting that the desire for stability, safety, and prosperity goes beyond ideology.”

• Bashing Trump alone lacks imagination: “Now, with a member of their own party in the White House and majorities in [then] both houses of Congress, Democrats can no longer turn their campaigns into a referendum on worsening national conditions — they must instead answer for these problems.”

• Offer true liberal solutions: “With gun violence on the rise, Democrats have an opportunity to reframe themselves as the true party of law and order. By turning heated national debates over gun control legislation into compassionate discussions of the role of gun violence in local communities, Democratic candidates can reframe rhetoric-filled issues in a way that better resonates with voters in their daily lives.”

• Don’t shy away from the tough experiments: “Democrats are the party fighting for living wages, affordable healthcare, and a tax system that favors the middle and working class — solutions that directly pass benefits to their constituents. These are broadly popular initiatives that aid the American family far more directly than Republican initiatives that promote economic growth through tax breaks to large corporations. Democrats can use this economic platform to appeal to voters who may not be as touched by the party’s social objectives.”

Whether today’s progressives look to cautionary tales from the 19th century, or are ready to embrace Jonah Simon’s practical creativity, its imperative they conceptualize governing as the series of experiments it has always been. Only then can we remain a true alternative to the party of rote.

Don Rollins is a Unitarian Universalist minister in Jackson, Ohio. Email donaldlrollins@ gmail.com.

From The Progressive Populist, March 1, 2023

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