To an outside observer, political parties can appear to have a unified front with common values and beliefs and operating with a singular platform or message.
But if American politics over the past year has taught us anything, it is that looks can often be deceiving.
For example, the Republican Party is floundering right now, engaged in a battle for its soul. A large contingent of loyalists are still defending the Donald and trying to bring about his resurrection through anti-democratic actions. You can almost hear the cheerleaders in the party yelling “Donald, Donald, he’s our man! If he can’t do it, no one can!”
On the other side are the Republican Party members who want both good government and small government. They are still in favour of democracy or, at least, democracy where everyone does what Sen. Mitch McConnell tells them to do. The Republicans are the party that ousted Rep. Liz Cheney from her leadership roles because she dared to speak the truth.
The Democrats are not much better. If the Republicans are a coalition of the right and the far right, the Democrats are an amalgamation of the centre and the left. Some, such as Sen. Bernie Saunders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez would like the United States to move towards the centre of the political spectrum.
They would like to see the United States take action on climate change, voting rights, globalization, and the rich paying taxes. Any taxes. When Jeff Bezos pays less tax than a nurse, a doctor, or a teacher, there is something wrong with the system. Establishing baseline corporate tax rates around the world would be a step in the right direction.
On the other hand, you have Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin actively working to undermine the efforts of his own party. It is all well and good to want to be bipartisan but in this case, the other side doesn’t want to play or, at least, play fair. Just consider Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene calling out Rep. Cortez is a move reminiscent of those elementary school challenges – “meet behind the bleachers at 2:30 for a fight.”
It is all amusing and entertaining to watch. American politics keeps a host of comedians, such as Stephen Colbert and Trevor Noah, well stocked with material.
And we might like to imagine, as Canadians, that we are above it all. We wouldn’t descend to this sort of political wrangling.
Then Jenica Atwin, the Green Party MP for Fredericton, crosses the floor, abandoning the Green Party to join the governing Liberals.
She wasn’t promised a cabinet position or given other inducements we are told. The move was in response to internal party politics and infighting. Specifically, the proverbial straw which broke the camel’s back appears to be Green Party Leader Annamie Paul’s take on the crisis in the Middle East.
Paul is on record calling for both sides to step away from an armed conflict and back to the bargaining table. As rockets were flying and citizens on both sides of the conflict were dying, it was a reasonable statement to make.
Indeed, a tweet from the Green Party read: “The Green Party of Canada calls for an immediate de-escalation in the violence and a return to dialogue as a means to seeking a peaceful solution.” It adds “Violence and confrontation will not bring resolution, only more suffering.”
Atwin’s response was “It is a totally inadequate statement. Forced Evictions must end! I stand with Palestine and condemn the unthinkable air strikes in Gaza. End Apartheid!” echoing the official party platform and position.
The whole question of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is far, far too complex to be summed up in a 140 word tweet. It is an issue which has vexed some of the finest minds on the planet since the creation of the state of Israel in the first place. But in this case, a difference of opinion over the conflict is the rationale provided for Atwin crossing the floor.
There is likely a lot more going on. One of my colleagues tells me that the coalition of environmentalists which is the Green Party is far from cohesive and the internal fractures are widening. It is an implosion which won’t be on the scale that we see south of the border but an implosion nonetheless.
Politics and political parties make for strange bedfellows. As Preston Manning pointed out, two types of people tend to seek political office – those who have something specific they see which needs to doing (or undoing) and those who just want to be somebody. The latter group is a very dangerous group but it is the former group which make political parties so volatile.
After all, how do you work with someone who wants to undo the very thing you are trying to get done?
- Todd Whitcombe is a chemistry professor at UNBC.
