Over the past two decades, we’ve watched America’s two political parties grow more extreme and distant from each other. This polarization has brought a host of negative outcomes, including partisan gridlock in Congress and threats to democracy.
But headlines often hide the truth that our politicians are more polarized than most voters. A huge segment of relatively moderate voters feels their ideals aren’t being represented. Indeed, nearly half of Americans between ages 18 and 49 wish they had more parties to choose from. Evan McMullin’s campaign for the U.S. Senate from Utah provides hope for moderates.
McMullin is targeting voters whose views are more nuanced than either party’s talking points. A flaw of our two-party system is that issues end up in one party’s domain quite arbitrarily. Take climate change, for example.
In the early 2000s, climate change was a bipartisan issue. John McCain spearheaded an effort to pass climate legislation in 2003. In the years since then, we’ve watched our political parties — and their news coverage — become so tribal that Democrats and Republicans are portrayed as being willing to die on whatever hill their party happens to camp on, no matter the underlying issue.
In reality, many people are put off by the arbitrary delineations. They care about issues from both parties. We all have neighbors who want to limit access to both abortions and guns, or who wish the government would protect the climate and religious freedom.
Enter Evan McMullin, a conservative former CIA agent running (with the endorsement of the Utah Democratic Party) as an independent. McMullin’s campaign against incumbent Sen. Mike Lee is unconventional. McMullin is drawing support from coalitions that haven’t come together before. Utah conservatives, moderates and liberals may not seem to have much in common, but supporters of McMullin are united by the desire to defend democracy and repudiate extremism.
That people of differing persuasions can be united by common values is a stunning example of our nation’s founding principles. McMullin’s eclectic constituent base provides solid evidence that compromise is yet alive and that tribalism has not overcome civil discourse, at least not in Utah. Supporters of McMullin are cultivating a refreshing middle ground.
Imagine Utah as the state that pioneers a path out of our two-party tangle. As a senator with constituents from the left- and right-leaning parts of the ideological spectrum, McMullin could be the model Congress needs to invent creative solutions to our most urgent challenges, including climate change and inflation. McMullin could become a senator known for what he helps accomplish rather than for what he blocks. And although McMullin is untested as a politician, his commitment to American democracy is evident. Can the same be said of his opponent?
A principle from ecology is helpful here: the “edge effect”. In zones where two ecosystems meet, more species flourish than in either of the disparate zones independently. This precept holds true for human ingenuity, too; people who are exposed to different cultures become more creative.
Can McMullin’s moderate coalition foster a kind of political “edge zone” where new ideas, compromise, and progress can actually happen? I hope so.
Anne Sandholtz McBride
Anne Sandholtz McBride, a Utah native and current resident of Provo, has a bachelor’s degree in music and a master’s degree in public administration from BYU.