When exactly did decorum, civility and the belief that in the end, politicians would put differences aside and work together for the good of the country die?
Was it that day in October 2010 when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky declared that the goal of the Republican Party was to guarantee that President Obama served only one term. Obstruction became the party’s principle function.
Or did the end come with the allegations that Republicans successfully conspired to “spoil” the ballots of large numbers of black voters to throw the election to George W. Bush over Sen. John Kerry?
Maybe it was the long and bitter battle between Bush and Vice President Al Gore, which culminated in a shameful decision by a partisan Supreme Court that put Bush, considered one of the nation’s worst presidents, in office?
All of those were wounds to the body politic that continue to fester, but the political cancer that gradually destroyed comity and cooperation between members of the rival parties began in the early 1990s with the rise to prominence of a man who still won’t leave the stage, Newt Gingrich.
Gingrich did not invent scorched-earth politics, but he, more than anyone else, killed the culture of collegiality that allowed Democratic Speaker of the House Tip O’Neil of Massachusetts to work closely with President Ronald Reagan to make things happen.
Gingrich, who was on Donald Trump’s short list of vice presidential candidates, has an ego that rivals that of The Donald. He, however, is wise in the ways of Washington, and after his ouster as speaker he used that knowledge to make a fortune.
It was Gingrich who in 1993 created the Contract with America, a promise to attack taxes, welfare, political insiders and, of course, Democrats, and a pledge to balance the budget and pass laws to eliminate moral turpitude.
Like Texas Sen. Ted Cruz after him, Gingrich used his power, plus Republican control of both houses of Congress, to shut down the government during budget battles, first for five days in 1995 and then for three weeks in 1996.
President Bill Clinton held his ground, his budget passed and the battle, plus Gingrich’s intemperate personality, cost him the speakership. It also helped Clinton get elected to a second term.
Gingrich and the group of ultra-conservative young Turks who came to Congress in the early 1990s began the pattern of attacking, and ousting from office, Republicans they didn’t consider conservative enough. Cooperating with the Democratic “enemy” was tantamount to political suicide. That policy continues today.
If Trump becomes president, Gingrich, the original divider, will likely play a role in his administration. Compromise for the good of the country will continue to be a rarity. The nation will stagnate.
Trump, whose temperament alone makes him unfit for office, continues to sabotage his own campaign. But should he be elected, Gingrich and his brand of scorched-earth politics will be back bigger than ever.
That’s yet another reason for Republicans who care about their country, their constituents and their party – a group that we hope includes Sen. Kelly Ayotte – to publicly abandon Trump.