BRING BIPARTISANSHIP TO A SPLIT COUNTRY

I have noticed a lot of the media commenting on how Sen. Barack Obama is viewed as the only candidate who can bring bipartisanship to our country. This is a very naïve notion. If either Sen. Obama or Sen. Clinton is elected President, the divide will continue because they both represent only the extreme left. The media has presented two divides. One is a false divide maintained by politicians to further maintain their personal causes or to create a divide in the voting public. The other is between the extreme left, or liberal, and the extreme right, or conservative.


The false divide is ethnic division between Caucasians and African Americans. For the vast majority of Americans this divide does not exist. In Congress, I do not see any division along racial lines. The Clintons tried to bring this into play only to get the white vote for Hillary. Other public figures like Rev. Jessie Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton fan the embers of this old divide to further their agendas for the benefit of African Americans. All of this has nothing to do with the current divide in Congress, or between Congress and President Bush.


That leaves us with the division between the extreme liberals and the conservatives. A close look at this divide starts with a review of the Republican and Democratic parties. The public voted Bush into office based on the belief that he was a strong conservative and was the best choice for the War on Terror. The current extreme left Democratic party leadership has a strong hatred for any true conservative, especially one who is religious. This hatred is a key factor in the divide between Democrats and Republicans, and, in my opinion, has aided our enemy in the War on Terror.


Let’s take a look at Sen. McCain’s, Sen. Clinton’s, and Sen. Obama’s Conservative and Liberal rankings as tabulated by the ACU ( American Conservative Union). The following rankings are through 2006.


Candidate --------------Conservative Ranking -------Liberal Ranking
Sen. John McCain --------------82.3 -----------------------17.7
Sen. Hillary Clinton --------------9.0 -----------------------91.0
Sen. Barack Obama --------------8.0 -----------------------92.0

The National Journal ranked Sen. Obama as the most liberal Senator in 2007. Sen. Clinton’s ranking did not change in 2007. Sen. McCain’s voting record was more Liberal in 2007 but his lifetime ranking did not change.


Based on these facts it is hard to see how Sen. Obama could possibly bridge the gap or bring bipartisanship to Congress. In fact, these rankings indicate that Sen. McCain would be much more likely to be able to reach compromises between Liberals and Conservatives and to get something accomplished.