The atmosphere of political divisiveness is fixable. And it’s not the worst it’s ever been. But it is bad, and has been decades in the making.
That’s the view of Pat Brady, a Twin City native and former head of the Illinois Republican Party.
A regular commentator on political news, Brady told guests at Tuesday night's annual fundraiser of the McLean County League of Women Voters that a variety of factors contributed to the current state of political divisiveness. The event was held at the Holiday Inn on East Empire Street in Bloomington.
Loss of faith in government. Changes in campaign finance laws that allowed rich donors with extreme beliefs to bankroll candidates. Partisan cable news. Gerrymandering. All these have chipped away at faith in the system, and left civil discourse weakened, Brady said.
And, of course, there was Donald Trump.
“Donald Trump has put this on steroids in the way he’s behaving.” Brady said.
While Ronald Reagan’s speeches played to people’s aspirations, Trump played on people’s fears, said Brady, adding he thinks the people who rallied to Trump had legitimate concerns and complaints.
“But the manner in which he did it was destructive to our republic,” said Brady
The loss of faith in government dates to the 1960s, Brady said, with events like the Vietnam War and then Watergate. And the savings and loan crisis in the 1990s, the fruitless search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq under President George W. Bush and even the response to the COVID-19 pandemic further eroded what trust remained, he said.
Brady traced partisan divisiveness to events like the appointment — and subsequent debate and rejection — of Robert Bork, Reagan’s Supreme Court nominee in 1982. Until then, Brady said, nominations of this sort were typically approved quickly by legislators from both parties.
Things deteriorated through the Clinton years, and by Obama’s presidency, every action was greeted with “right-wing hysteria,” Brady said.
Lessening extreme voices
Brady discussed several solutions he said would lessen the influence of extreme voices and soften the tone:
Address Gerrymandering — The drawing of districts to favor of one party means a primary can determine an election’s outcome. That, he said, eliminates the need to address the other party’s views. Because of that, in Illinois, “There are no moderate voices left in leadership,” he said.
Enact campaign finance reform — Large donors with extreme views can unduly sway an election, he said.
Disclose opinion segments on cable news channels — While newspapers have editorial sections, prime time slots from 7-10 p.m. often peddle opinion as fact, said Brady, citing Fox News, that on Tuesday settled a lawsuit with Dominion for $787.5 million over falsely reporting Dominion’s voting machines had influenced the 2020 election outcome.
Open primaries — Instead of declaring a party to receive a ballot, allow a voter to choose a Democrat for one office and a Republican for another. This would allow peoples across the spectrum to weigh in on a candidate, he said.
A new party — Brady drew applause with this suggestion. Asked what that party might look like, Brady suggested fiscal conservatism coupled with support for issues like abortion rights and gay marriage.
Enact term, and possibly age, limits — This would allow new people with views reflective of society into the system, he said.
Trump prosecution
Despite his disdain for Trump’s rhetoric, Brady, who has served as both a state and federal prosecutor, called the hush money charges facing Trump in New York “a nonsense indictment.”
“If you’re going to indict the president of the United States, you better have a case that’s worth more than just doctoring up some records over some porn star that he was involved with years ago,” he said.
Brady said the case is good, but ultimately, it’s more of a distraction, “particularly when there are two or three open federal investigations into much more serious matters like trying to flip the vote in Georgia, or what happened on Jan. 6,” he said.
Brady now heads a government and public affairs firm. A former head of the Illinois Republican Party, he resigned that post in 2013, at least partly because of his public support of gay marriage.
In that way, the polarization of both parties has left their more moderate members branded as near outcasts.
“I’m kind of a man without a country now,” Brady said.
