Philly
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- Jun 4, 2010
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Lately it's been fashionable to idolize politicians who showcase their lack of ideology. When Evan Bayh announced he wouldn't run for re-election, he condemned both parties for being too ideological, and the commentators put Bayh up on a pedestal as a shining example of what an elected official should be. The implication is that the most principled and honest politicians are those who refuse to adhere to any ideology.
This couldn't be further from the truth.
While it's true that an extremist commitment to any particular ideology can be a bad thing, complete detachment from ideology is no virtue. As much as the word "ideology" has been dragged through the mud, being ideological really just means having a consistent set of beliefs. Any politician who has no ideology has no principles to guide his/her decisions. In other words, they're just inclined to do whatever benefits them personally at any given time.
Look at what happened with the Health Care legislation. Ideological Democrats wanted to pass legislation based on their principles of reforming the system. Ideological Republicans opposed the legislation because they believe it would be inefficient and overreaching. But neither side had enough votes to win the battle, so the Democrats went to the non-ideological among their ranks to cut a deal. In the US Senate, the non-ideological Democrats would be people like Joe Lieberman, Ben Nelson, and Mary Landrieu, among others. What did they want? Kickbacks, pet projects, and amendments to benefit their favorite special interest donors. So a bill passed, and the principled, ideological Republicans who didn't want more government involvement lost. But the principled, ideological Democrats who wanted meaningful reform lost too, because the integrity of their vision was tainted by kickbacks for conniving politicians, and many important aspects of the legislation were watered down to accommodate the special interest lobbies who have non-ideological Senators in their pockets.
If we got rid of the "mavericks" and the "lone wolfs" and the "independent voices", we'd be able to see the true vision of both conservatives and liberals realized through public policy, but as long as we continue to treat those without principles like heroes, that will never happen.
This couldn't be further from the truth.
While it's true that an extremist commitment to any particular ideology can be a bad thing, complete detachment from ideology is no virtue. As much as the word "ideology" has been dragged through the mud, being ideological really just means having a consistent set of beliefs. Any politician who has no ideology has no principles to guide his/her decisions. In other words, they're just inclined to do whatever benefits them personally at any given time.
Look at what happened with the Health Care legislation. Ideological Democrats wanted to pass legislation based on their principles of reforming the system. Ideological Republicans opposed the legislation because they believe it would be inefficient and overreaching. But neither side had enough votes to win the battle, so the Democrats went to the non-ideological among their ranks to cut a deal. In the US Senate, the non-ideological Democrats would be people like Joe Lieberman, Ben Nelson, and Mary Landrieu, among others. What did they want? Kickbacks, pet projects, and amendments to benefit their favorite special interest donors. So a bill passed, and the principled, ideological Republicans who didn't want more government involvement lost. But the principled, ideological Democrats who wanted meaningful reform lost too, because the integrity of their vision was tainted by kickbacks for conniving politicians, and many important aspects of the legislation were watered down to accommodate the special interest lobbies who have non-ideological Senators in their pockets.
If we got rid of the "mavericks" and the "lone wolfs" and the "independent voices", we'd be able to see the true vision of both conservatives and liberals realized through public policy, but as long as we continue to treat those without principles like heroes, that will never happen.