2021 DemocracyPlus: The Approach to Rebalancing the Political Party System

What if a political party spends $1 Billion and loses a fair election? | RebalancePartySystem DemocracyPlus

Core values topics - #RebalancePartySystem and #DemocracyPlus

In technology consulting, ‘legacy’ means older system. Legacy systems, after many years, have defects.

America’s political system is one of the oldest legacy systems on the planet. Its primary defect is an inability to manage changes between political ideologies and voter core values. The result is an unbalanced two-party system with extremely disruptive behavior.

What recourse do voters have when political behavior goes extreme in either direction? How do we accelerate voter realignment to the correct political balance? What political planks are under the hood of the two-party system?

A political party plank outlines principles, goals, and positions on domestic and foreign topics.

Voters can support one of many ideologies within today’s political system. Options appear to include Democratic Party (liberal/progressive/social democrat) or Conservative Party (religious conservative/populist/national socialist/libertarian).

When announced political planks allow voters to understand each party’s platform. Planks are rarely managed and the system offers few options when plank delivery doesn’t match voter expectations?

For example, as the conservative ideology moves from religious conservatives to nationalism, what are the options for religious conservatives that don’t support nationalism? In the 1950s when Democratic conservatives didn’t support the shift towards civil rights, it took three assassinations and twenty years to build the modern conservative party. In the current system, voters become trapped in the party.

But, this isn’t your grandmother America. In the digital age of fast-food menu options, voters need real-time ways to understand, react and realign to the right political platform.

Undefined ideologies and fake news impact each voter’s ability to quickly change parties and avoid division and political gridlock. The system needs a way to be self-balancing. But, there are no knobs or switches, this legacy system came with no documentation. It’s like the Face/Off movie quote “Oh, wee what a predicament”.

It’s a predicament that grips the nation every eighty or so years. A couple of times the problem was resolved by assassination. But that was yesteryear, today we need a process that continuously #RebalancePartySystem.

President Roosevelt offered the best solution with the New Deal Coalition. He built a supporter base for his programs and ideas, many were later adopted by local, state, and national candidates from both political parties—for 30 years. For example, President Eisenhower was a Republican that ran as a Roosevelt-style New Deal candidate.

When is Rebalancing Needed

In 2020, the RNC spent $1 billion and lost national power, while the winning DNC party spent half as much. What followed was an insurrection, filibuster, fake news, and disruption of America’s Pandemic health strategy. All a direct cost of the unbalanced party system.

Clearly, the voter demand for the losing party’s platform is flat and cannot be increased by spending more dollars. Which leaves extreme behavior as the only alternative.

Money, Money, Money

In 2020, the DNC spent 50% less than the RNC. It won the White House, along with flipping States and gaining key Senate seats. Simply looking at the absolute number, it appears DNC spent $493M vs. RNC $891M.

The DNC is in a stronger position and can grow the voter base by keeping its current platform. If smart, the DNC can use digital innovation to reduce its spending and still grow the base and win elections. There are many options to win as the planks and population demographics are on the side of the Democrats.

The RNC prospects for growth are not as clear. A shift away from values that conflict with modern core values is nearly impossible, as RNC must hold on to the extreme far-right voters. In 201 the RNC investment would be needed to modernized its platform, but only after the socialization of the base to modern core values.

But, if the RNC made those adjustments, what’s would be the difference between religious conservatives and DNC liberals? Maybe not much.

Wouldn't it be easier and cheaper if voters switch parties? Yes, but we all wear our political emotions on our sleeves. And, unfortunately, we’re born into our political beliefs based on zip code.

The New Deal model built a coalition and framework that allowed candidates to keep party affiliation, yet adopt planks that were acceptable to the more everyday Americans.

Today, the RNC is facing diminishing marginal returns. Every dollar spent will bring them fewer and fewer voters. This explains the strategy of fake news, disenfranchising voters, and coalescing around no-mask and no-shot as an alternative to invest more dollars or changing ideology.

The History: Anti-Federalists vs. Federalists

America was born divided and will always remain divided. But, it’s not a 50/50 split, redistricting the voter map goes a long way in creating the illusion of an equal split. Denying voting rights to all eligible voters also illegally impacts the voter based. 

In the beginning, the political division began to form during the struggle over the ratification of the American Constitution of 1787. The Federalists, led by Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton, wanted a strong central government, while the Anti-Federalists, led by Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, advocated states’ rights instead of centralized power. Eighty years later, the division was over the wealth and power it created by slavery 

What would President Washington say?

President Washington didn't trust political parties. Not because political parties weren't necessary, but as a soldier, he knew the hearts of men. He understood greed, the need for power, and the uneducated voter base. 

However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterward the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion. — George Washington, 1796

George Washington knew the problem with political parties and understood people could be easily manipulated. He saw the rise of the Democratic-Republican party in opposition to the Federalists and understood how easily a two-party system could undermine the popular sovereignty in the nation.

DemocracyPlus

Creating a third political party isn’t an option. A new Party will add to an already impossible situation. All available ideologies are already available.

Why not update the New Deal Coalition model? Why not build modern core values around a modern coalition? Give the New Deal Coalition a digital facelift. Build smarter citizens that support platform planks based on clearly identified core values. Use digital innovation to unpack something new.

In 2021, people are no longer at the center of democracy. The first party to engage citizens within a new coalition will win—rhetoric or propaganda won’t create hope or a modern American Dream.

America has always been the laboratory of Democracy for the rest of the world. One way or the other, our challenges impact almost 8 billion people around the globe. Today, communities need a wagon train of smart folks to lead us to better ways to rebalance our parties system—now and in the future.

People can lead us to the next advanced democracy, code name—DemocracyPlus.