Baneful Effects

If, by chance, you need a reminder of the genius of the Father of Our Country, note that George Washington essentially predicted the mess we find ourselves in 225 years later.

In his farewell address on September 19, 1796, the first president ended with a warning. The struggle over the Constitution of 1787 had split the Founding Fathers into two camps, Federalists and Anti-Federalists, the disagreement being over how much power the centralized government would have in comparison to the states. It created drama that led to a historic compromise — not to mention a wonderful Broadway musical — and it planted the seeds that became political parties in America.

The partisanship, a solemn Washington noted, reeked of “the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally.” It’s part of our passionate nature, he said, to break into factions, and for those factions to seek domination over each other, and revenge for past losses. Governments of all kinds have found it to be of the “greatest rankness and is truly their worst enemy” — in fact, to a group of patriots who were fresh off a victory over despotism, Washington warned that party dissension creates “a more formal and permanent despotism.”

His words: “The disorders & miseries, which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security & repose in the absolute power of an Individual: and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of Public Liberty.”

It sounds familiar. And that’s because great truths echo down the centuries, whether read on parchment or a smartphone screen.

Political parties are a necessary American evil, perhaps, but they should be a means to an end, not the end itself. That’s something to keep in mind with recent local elections, a moment where political party is most meaningless but remains a factor. A surprising number of voters lean on straight ticket voting, even in local elections, where it’s crystal clear that individuals — neighbors — are the candidates. It can be difficult to try to lump them all together under any one banner, and why would you?

In the race for Suffolk County Legislature District 2: Bridget Fleming won reelection, but she needed her heavy East End support for victory. Challenger Robert Carpenter won 42 percent of the vote. That seems unremarkable only if you weren’t paying attention: Carpenter, charitably, was a placeholder candidate; bluntly, he was wildly unqualified and barely interested, as was clear in a League of Women Voters of the Hamptons, North Fork and Shelter Island debate, which was an embarrassment, or should have been.

In East Hampton Town, one slate of candidates refused to participate in traditional debates, complaining about the fact that they were being held virtually during a pandemic. They offered very little coherent messaging, and on social media at least one candidate trafficked in the worst kind of misinformation and ugliness. They lost, badly, but still collected well over 1,000 ballots — many of which, likely, were cast as straight ticket ballots of outrage, driven by national politics.

In both cases, the lesser candidates were Republicans, but that’s beside the point. In fact, a counterpoint is that Southampton Town offered an example of the opposite: In a town that has leaned heavily Democratic, a Republican candidate won one of two Town Board seats. How? Cynthia McNamara’s message — mostly about a need for more open government and a focus on local issues — resonated with voters who paid attention.

On a straight ticket ballot, that message is lost, or ignored. It’s irresponsible to cast local votes, for candidates of either party, without discernment — the straight ticket is an admission of apathy, an abdication, only slightly better than no ballot at all.

As Washington said, political parties are as unavoidable as arguments, and politics brings partisan sentiments to bear, and even can fuel action. But it’s up to the public to “mitigate & assuage it,” he said. It is, instead, “A fire not to be quenched; it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest instead of warming it should consume.”

An educated vote in a local election, where a vote matters most and carries the most weight, eschews party labels. It tends that flame, keeps it bright and warm, but doesn’t let it get out of control. Until we take that responsibility to heart, there’s little hope that the raging, consuming flames of national politics will be contained.