Ever since I’ve grown closer to the political process, the people I meet have surprised me in two ways — one good and one bad. First — given politicians’ terrible public reputation — I’ve been surprised by the number of honorable, well-meaning, and high-integrity people I’ve met in Washington and in various state houses across the land. These are the people who get into politics for the right reasons and — critically — conduct themselves the right way while in office and while campaigning. That’s not to say that these politicians aren’t ambitious or that their principles and tactics often coincide with their self-interest (it’s a universal human temptation), but quite a few politicos do in fact try to be true public servants. For lack of a better term, we’ll call these people the idealists.
The second surprise is far more negative. There are, in fact, quite a few people in politics who are truly, surprisingly venal — worse than I imagined. They will do anything, say anything, and believe anything to attain and retain power. They will shank their good friends, lie on command, and abandon “deeply held principles” by the minute, if necessary, to remain “in the room where it happens” (to quote the musical Hamilton.) These folks, sadly, tend to disproportionately cluster themselves amongst the political lifers – the longtime consultants, campaign staffers, and local public officials. They thrive in the cutthroat world of local political races, where low levels of press and public attention allow gutter tactics to survive and thrive. These folks live with their lies by categorizing each and every dirty trick as “just politics,” and — as the saying goes — “politics ain’t beanbag.” We’ll call this group the operatives.
The result is a political cultural gap that’s on full display in the GOP. Texas delegates both cheered and attacked Ted Cruz after his convention speech, with one shouting revealingly, “Get over it — this is politics” after Cruz explained that he couldn’t support a man who’d attacked his wife and father. To Cruz — no shrinking violet himself – there were lines one just doesn’t cross. To the delegate, the ethical lines disappear when it’s “politics.” The important thing is to win and to keep winning. That means unifying to keep the party in the “room where it happens” — even if the party is no longer ideologically recognizable.
Given the temptation to tribalism, there’s always going to be an element to of politics that’s — as Cruz noted— about little more than laundry. Are you wearing the red jersey or the blue jersey? But the Trump argument to dissenters is veering towards the mostly or even entirely tribal. Trump supporters want conservatives to vote for man who has fundamentally different beliefs from their own because otherwise the other team will win. But given the national GOP’s now-decisive rejection of constitutional conservatism, to conservatives both political parties are starting to look like the other team. This reasoning is mystifying to the operative. It’s obvious to the idealist. The operative is Republican first. The idealist is conservative first.
Most of the time, idealists and operatives work together in an uneasy alliance, but there are times when the differences are so stark that the alliance breaks down. When Trump won the nomination, the operatives went to his side, en masse. The idealists did not, and many will not. In this presidential race, the red jersey has to stand for something better than the blue for some of us to put it on.
Texas Delegates Helped Reveal the GOP's Cultural Divide