Closing the gap

The campaigns for president cannot give Americans confidence.

On the one side, the Democratic contenders are racing to the left.

The Republican candidates are pushing and pulling each other to the right.

In the middle, at least so far, there is a great chasm, and it is getting deeper and wider.

That chasm is the space between the two parties.

Over the years, the political system in the United States has grown into two camps, each wanting to devastate and dominate the other.

Often, it seems that political ideology and political gamesmanship take precedence over what is best for the country.

If the campaigning is any indication of what is to come, the country will be further split and divided.

Americans need to realize that a little dissatisfaction with the ideological purity of their candidates is not as bad as demanding that candidates forsake all else for that purity. We have seen what government has become when there is no give and take, and, despite the demands for it to adhere to party lines, Congress is thought by more than 75 percent of Americans to be doing a very bad job. That amount of disrespect for the institution means that a majority of citizens from both parties thinks ill of it.

Unless Americans start looking at candidates who may be able to bridge the chasm, the dysfunction will continue. Potentially, it could even get worse.

Ideological perfection can be sought and hoped for, but it is not likely to be found. The next best thing is finding candidates who respect differing views, argue for their own positions and are able to accommodate enough to get things accomplished without further widening the political chasm.

True believers are important, but so is the belief that a functioning, directed national government will accommodate the needs and aspirations of most Americans better than one locked in inaction.

Only the American voter can bridge the chasm and close the gap.

Gordon Forgey

Publisher