DEMOCRATIC VOICES, REPUBLICAN VOICES
Two Different Worlds
By Edgar B. Anderson
Website: EdgarBAnderson.com
Reporter for Latvian Newspaper LAIKS
Between August 25 and September 4, 2008, I had the opportunity to talk on behalf of the Latvian Newspaper LAIKS with more than one hundred politicians and delegates at both the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, and the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota. This was perhaps the first time that a Latvian publication has ever been represented at the US political conventions. What I encountered at the two gatherings were Americans of dramatically differing attitudes, values, and concerns.
If you wish to read the transcripts of most of my interviews, which give greater insights into the thinking of Democrats and Republicans, please go to my website at EdgarBAnderson.com and click on the link to "The Conventions" near the top of the left column of the homepage.
THE DEMOCRATS
Speaking with Senators and Congressmen, I limited my questions to foreign policy issues, mainly relating to the Russian invasion of Georgia.
After noting that his mother was born in Lithuania, Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois assured me that “the aggression shown by the Russians … is a reminder of how important it was to bring the Baltics into NATO so that there is an alliance in an effort to stand together should anyone ever threaten Latvia, Lithuania, or Estonia.” When I suggested that because many Democrats want to wash their hands of Iraq, they may ultimately feel the same way about defending the Baltic States, he responded that “the difference is that we are talking about an alliance, the NATO alliance … I certainly believe through the NATO alliance that we can help make certain that the Baltic States maintain their freedom.”
Civil rights pioneer Representative John Lewis of Georgia dismissed any notion that an Obama Administration would pull back from America’s commitments in Eastern Europe, “The Democratic Party has never been a party of isolationism. We’ve been involved in the world, and we will continue to be involved in the affairs and the needs around the world. We will not stand by and let Russia or any other major power crush the hopes and dreams and aspirations of people. So I must say to my friends from all over Eastern Europe they have nothing to fear from the Democratic Party.”
Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts argued against the Iraq War, “The fact that we are in Iraq weakens our ability to help people elsewhere. The argument that a big country shouldn’t invade a smaller country with which it’s having an argument is undercut by what we did in Iraq. The American troops and the American military are overstretched because of Iraq … An America that was out of Iraq could more reliably help the Baltics ….”
Senator Jim Webb of Virginia warned about US involvement in the dispute between Russia and Georgia, “I think we should be careful. I think that if you look at how that particular incident began, it wasn’t as simple as a lot of people are saying that it was, and we need to be very careful in terms of trying to keep a balance with all our relationships over there.”
House Majority Leader Representative Steny Hoyer of Maryland offered his assessment, “Well, I think the proper role is to be an advocate for this being resolved through negotiations, not through military action, and this being resolved consistent with the Helsinki Final Act and international law which honors national boundaries … It is a complicated situation … in the sense that the Russians, of course, are taking the position Kosovo was a part of the geographic area of Serbia and should have not been recognized as an independent entity. Now they’re, of course, taking the position, if Kosovo, Pristina, could be recognized by the international community, then why can’t South Ossetia or Abkhazia?”
Representative Jim McDermott of Washington State blamed the Bush Administration, “Well, I thought we got ourselves into it by threatening the Russians in the first place. I thought the Polish missiles and the Czech interceptors and all that stuff was a direct provocation of the Russians, and they played tit for tat, so now I don’t think we have any, there’s nothing we can say. They can say, ‘Look, what moral right do you have to tell us to stay out of a country? Didn’t you run into a country? And you weren’t even asked. We ran into a country where people were asking us to come in.’ … And my view is that the United States has to rethink its entire foreign policy, with Barack Obama talking to people and listening to them before we provoke this kind of thing.”
1972 Democratic Party Presidential nominee and former South Dakota Senator George McGovern gave his opinion on the Georgia situation, “I think we ought to stay out of that. Put it in the hands of the United Nations.”
Ordinary citizen delegates had correspondingly diverse views on the crisis with Russia. Some expressed a desire to stand with Georgia while others wanted the US to avoid any entanglement. They also endorsed, among other things, bringing the Iraq War to a rapid conclusion, establishing federal government day care, pre-school, and health care, expanding immigration, “equal pay for equal work,” protecting abortion rights, and dealing with climate change.
Tom Chorlton of Charleston SC was confident that in the event Russia took military action against the Baltic States, the US would defend its NATO allies, “We’re pledged to do that … you know, the NATO commitment is quite clear, and I’m sure the Russians understand that as well as we do.” In contrast, Henry Tamarin of Chicago IL said that regardless of the NATO alliance, the US should “stay out” if Russia makes a military move into the Baltics. “We can’t control the world, and we ought to recognize that and stop trying.”
Sam Hagedorn of Rochester MN claimed that during the Bush Presidency “we’ve seen an exceptionalism and a closed-off, you know, with-us-or-against-us ‘cowboyism’ that has really hurt our relations on both sides of the Atlantic and around the world.” Shari Malloy of Longmont CO expressed her hopes, “I think the US, you know, with Senator Obama as our leader in taking not a might-makes-right approach, more a diplomatic approach, I think we can earn the respect of the rest of the world and, you know, have a voice in peacemaking, and I’m looking forward to that day.”
Taylor Bates of Williston VT identified his main issue, “I think definitely global warming. That’s going to be my generation’s version of the Cold War, I mean the transcendent challenge of the whole generation.” Miranda Galindo of Brooklyn NY was especially concerned about immigration, “I think that opening up, you know, and having larger quotas from all countries would make a lot more sense, would be a lot more realistic ….” Paula A. Martinez of Carlisle IA objected that women earn less money than men. Asked if the government should monitor and decide on wages, she responded, “Yes, I think that they need to look at wages all across the board for all of the jobs that are available.”
Linda Weiss of Corinth VT advocated major health care reform, “We have an unbelievably inefficient system that doesn’t work for an awful lot of people.” Her solution, “My personal preference is for single payer. I would like a European system.” Randy Bishop, Mayor of Neptune Township NJ, backed universal pre-school and day care. “[I]t’s a difficult world for a lot of single working mothers, many of them working two jobs. To be able to get young people involved into educational programs, to start them out early, helps them later in life and helps the communities they live in.”
Neil Samuels of Bucks County PA was blunt, “I believe that our country is in a crisis, and we are at a crossroads. This election is going to be about hope versus fear, and we’ve seen that playbook from the Republicans before. And we finally have a candidate who’s got the judgment, the intellect, and the courage to lead us in a brand new direction.” Kierra Johnson of Washington DC contended, “What Obama does is to inspire the not-so-usual suspects to reclaim their democracy for themselves.” Lucy Buckner Watson of Inver Grove Heights MN shared why she hopes that Senator Barack Obama will be the next President of the United States, “He’s a very wise man, a very compassionate man, a very intelligent man, and a very inclusive man.”
THE REPUBLICANS
The following week I had more conversations, this time with the Republicans, again talking primarily about the Russia question with the politicians.
Senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota offered his thoughts on the Russian invasion of Georgia, “I think it’s a deep concern. I served in the US Senate when we passed the NATO treaty for the admittance of Latvia and the other Baltic nations. When I stood on the floor of the Senate I was with the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Dick Lugar, and he pointed up at the balcony, and the foreign ministers from all those countries were there, and he said to me, ‘Senator,’ he said, ‘Norm, this may be just one vote for us, but for the folks up there, it’s their life. It means they don’t have to live in fear of Russia coming back and taking them over.’ I think we have to be concerned about Putin wanting his empire back, and I think he has to understand that in today’s environment you simply can’t operate that way, and I would hope and I have no doubt that Senator McCain understands that, and as a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, I certainly understand that.”
Representative Duncan Hunter of California was clear, “I think that the message for all of the newly freed Captive Nations should be this: You need to all hang together so that you don’t hang separately, and that means that all of the newly freed nations who received their independence when the Wall came down and when the Soviet Empire as it stood was dissolved, those nations need to stand solidly behind Georgia, they need to give it very strong backing. We should be flooding Georgia right now with peacekeepers from the free nations of the world, and they should do everything they possibly can to make sure that that democratically elected government stands.”
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich gave his perspective, “I think we have to have a policy of working with the Europeans and sending a signal of strength that there are limits to the kind of lawless behavior we just saw in Georgia and that we take very seriously violations of your neighbor’s sovereignty, and I think it’s very important that Moscow not have any confusion about the importance we put on what they have done in breaking international law.” As for the argument that the US should respect a Russian so-called “sphere of influence,” he responded, “I think that violates the whole norm of the rule of law. I mean that would imply that you can violate the rule of law in your neighborhood if you feel like it. I think that would be fundamentally wrong.”
Senator John Kyl of Arizona informed, “John McCain and I have been to Latvia. He’s been to that part of the world many times, met with the leaders there, understands the issues, and would instinctively understand what action the United States needs to take in any particular kind of emergency, especially if Russia continues its hegemonic activities – let’s just put it that way – in its so-called Near Abroad.”
1996 Republican Presidential nominee and former Kansas Senator Bob Dole had the last word, “I think McCain is right. When he looks at Putin, he sees three letters – K G B ….”
I spoke as well with many of the regular Republican delegates, whose concerns were distinctly different from those of the Democrats. Instead of a greater role for the state, the Republicans wanted a lesser role. The Republicans supported smaller government and lower taxes. Other frequently mentioned priorities included fighting terrorism, protecting democracy in Iraq and Georgia, encouraging economic growth, securing the nation’s borders, strengthening the family, and reducing the number of abortions.
Phil Bevis of Seattle WA stated, “I think it’s important for us to show support for Georgia in a very firm and responsible fashion, not provocative, but just make it very, very clear that violations of their territorial integrity are a thing of the past and not the future." April Newland of Charlotte Amalie, US Virgin Islands, was of similar mind, "I don’t want to see a huge conflict break out again with Russia, but I think that we need to stand up for people who are striving for democracy and that want to govern themselves."
Ivan Cermak of Selma OR, a refugee from Stalinist Czechoslovakia, said, “I saw what totalitarianism does and collectivism, and so I’ve been slanted toward individual liberty and small government for many decades now … the more power you give government, the less freedom you have.” Walter Scott of Jackson MS, head of Blacks for Reagan-Bush in 1980, was unequivocal, “I believe in the free enterprise system, I believe in smaller government, I believe in low taxes, I believe in individual freedom, and those are the things that the Republican Party stands for.”
Dennis Lennox of Topinabe MI cited the need to grow the economy and create jobs, “My big priority … is cutting taxes and creating a climate that’s pro-business and business-friendly.” Trent Newell of Homer LA focused on out-of-control immigration, “Well, if you don’t know who’s coming across your borders and what’s coming across with them, I think that has a pretty obvious impact on national security.” Christopher Harvey of Pearland TX stressed educational reform, “We’re hurting our children by just leaving them in bad, poor schools where teachers don’t care. They should have the freedom to choose what school they want to got to. That’s what America is all about.”
Renee Gentle Powers of Clanton AL acknowledged, “Actually my kind of goal in all of this is I’m looking to have more Christian leadership in government.” Although a number of delegates expressed the desire to outlaw abortion, they often hesitated on prescribing punishment. Powers’ first reaction, “I think I might just let the Lord make that judgment.” Marsha Bjornn of Rexburg ID talked of the importance of “family values,” which for her means “preferably a mother and a father. I believe in going to a church with all your family every Sunday, and having your religion be part of your life every day, not just on Sunday, trying to be a good Christian, love your neighbor as yourself, teaching honesty to your children, having integrity that you can be trusted, that you don’t speak ill of other people, that you have a work ethic ….”
Dr. Donald J. Michels of Cheverly MD explained why he supported John McCain, “First, the most fundamental, I believe he’s a man of great integrity, and I think his whole life history shows that.” Anna Lee of Centerville VA described the Arizona Senator as “someone who has dedicated his life to America and freedom.” Clifford Yin of Sacramento CA said that McCain “has the experience and wisdom to be President.” Donna Bahorich of Houston TX concluded, “There’re a lot of countries depending on us to be strong, to have the kind of leadership that we need to show in a tough world, and we need somebody like Senator McCain who’s been through it personally, been through the fire, and come out shining like gold.”
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