By Tom Campbell, Executive Producer and Moderator of NC SPIN
Are you fed up with the partisan, polarizing and stagnant incivility and childish gamesmanship of today’s politics that forces the shutdown of governments, brings this nation to the brink of financial chaos and focuses more on being right than doing right? Political-speak labels this condition “hyperpartisanship,” but most of us plainspoken folks call it garbage that smells so bad we want to toss it out and start over.
We got here in part because of today’s highly partisan media, especially cable, talk radio and Internet, that encouraged people to self-segregate into liberals and conservatives. In order to hold and grow audiences this media requires new content to feed 24-hour news cycles, a ripe environment for evermore partisan, extreme and emotional dialogue. Reporters and politicos became rock stars fanning the flames, more interested in identifying and demonizing their opposition than offering workable solutions. While some have been whipped into a state of frenzy and became vocal activists for these positions many more of us tuned out and turned off the noise.
A reported 41 percent of all Americans consider themselves independent of either political party and a majority of voters support the creation of a third political party. Many admit to being fiscally conservative but socially liberal, willing for government to do things they are neither willing nor able to do themselves. They agree to a social contract that includes helping the poor and the sick (especially the mentally ill) unable to help themselves, providing public infrastructure like roads and water and sewer systems, and in needing certain environmental, safety, military and commerce protections. They also accept the public task of educating our children. But in all these roles they demand sound, cost-effective management, measurable outcomes and both personal and government accountability as non-negotiable pre-requisites.
The dualistic right or wrong, good or bad, friend or enemy way isn’t working. We are more than Republicans or Democrats, liberals or conservatives, Anglo or Afro, rich or poor, young or old. Today’s issues are not either/or decisions but both/and propositions, requiring us to seek common ground we can agree upon, then listening and working together to find solutions.
Call us centrists, moderates, independents, anything you want, but call us ready for change. Starting a third party won’t be easy, especially in North Carolina where laws require an unreasonable number of petition signatures to gain ballot access. Large amounts of money will be needed to be competitive and finding an attractive candidate who can energize the many who have given up will be equally difficult, especially convincing independents there is room under a third-party tent for differences of opinion, that working and listening together will get us farther than present-day all or nothing-at-all politics.
We are not unaware of the challenge but have watched the political climate worsen. What is currently playing out in Washington and Raleigh forces us to agree with Sojourners’ Jim Wallis that “the left doesn’t get it and the right gets it wrong.” Neither Democrats nor Republicans seem willing to halt this tragic drama. It is increasingly obvious things won’t get better in North Carolina until some catalyst forces change. That change agent will be a third political party. A new website, www.ncthirdparty.com, has been initiated to invite your response and participation in this movement. Are you ready for a third party?
If you are interested in becoming a part of this movement, click on “Comments” below and provide your contact information and we’ll keep you informed!