“Loss of moderates like Snowe means DC stalemates more likely,” reads the headline of an article found on www.pintreewatchdog.org and written by Gordon Weil, of the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting.

Weil continues, “Senate moderates, those who do not follow a strict party line, have declined from 46 in 1977 to only six in 2009, according to one study. In the same period, another study, this one based on conservative-liberal ideology, found that those who did not strictly adhere to either view dropped from 39 to nine.”

Now, six-term U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., has lost his primary battle to state treasurer Richard Mourdock, who sees bipartisanship as the problem, not the solution.

Truly, we don’t need one more hyperpartisan federal legislator who can’t see past his party label to focus on governance. Increasingly, there is no incentive to cross the aisle and engage in the kind of dialogue we need to get things done. Budgets don’t get passed and spending decisions are ill-informed. We can’t afford this myopic gridlock.

This is why I support No Labels, a growing nationwide cooperative movement of Republicans, Democrats and independents promoting their Make Congress Work campaign (see nolabels.org for details). On the state level, OneMaine promotes a similar vision of thoughtful, collaborative dialogue that values problem-solving more than partisanship (see onemaine.com for details).

Both of these organizations are constructive outlets for those of us who believe there’s more that unites us than divides us. They’re a good start in creating an antidote for “idealogue-itis.” Yet, to really address what ails us, we also need to look at how pervasive this problem is in our educational, civic and religious institutions, as well.

Teague Morris

Litchfield

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