The US Right v the UK Right

By Andrew Ian Dodge

The British political parties of note are probably viewing this Thursday’s set of local election with a mixture of angst and excitement. While at the same time the actual candidates will see the end to all their hard work on the doorstep. It will be the exhausting end to months of work and toil.

I am sure politicos, me included, are looking upon it all with giddy excitement in anticipation of following the numbers as the reports come in from all over the UK. Will the Conservative vote implode and losses add up to 600 seats as some have predicted or will UKIP be unable to deliver on the day? Will Labour suffer from the rise of UKIP at all, equally or even more than the Conservatives in places like the North? There are as many questions and quanderies as there are council seats up for election.

But as you anticipate Thursday I would ask you to do one thing. Consider yourself lucky to live in a country with a first passed the post system that has more, that has a choice of parties on with differing political views.  There are four parties in today’s British political system and that is quite something.

Pity the poor libertarian-minded conservative or centre-left minded voter (ie Kennedy democrats), small government social conservatives and their activists in the US. None of these types have anyone to vote for in elections. Granted there are exceptions to this rule in states like New York with their Conservative Party and states like Maine & Vermont with their penchant for independents (left though they are).

In most of the US the choice is pretty stark. Between the socialist corporatist Democrats and between the theocratish corporatism of the Republicans. Both parties are patronizing and patrician in their outlook. Neither is for small government in any practical manner and both limit individual rights when they are in power.

In the UK you currently have a choice between Labour socialists/corporatists, Liberal Democrat squishy centre-left, the Conservative squishy centre-right and the conservative/libertarian UKIP. There is actually choice between these parties and actual practical differences in policy and political ambition.

Granted the CCHQ and Conservative loyalists are incensed that UKIP exist. I am sure, now that the L-Ds have drifted hard-left, that Labour activists can’t stand the fact that they exist either. But it is tough tamales for both. These parties keep the other parties on their toes and force them to avoid taking their core vote for granted.

This doesn’t happen in the US and you will hear Republicans and Democrat loyalist every cycle saying “well who else are you going to vote for?” This situation means that neither party needs to reform at all they just mess around in the middle and ignore their core. They have conventions every four years to reassure their base(s) before they real campaign get going and both parties ignore their activists in the final push to November.

Was there really much difference in outlook between Obama and McCain or Obama and Romney? Yeah the rhetoric is varied but other than that there isn’t much practical difference.

The US needs parties like UKIP and the Liberal Democrats. It needs parties that keep the two “major” ones worried that their voters and activists might desert them. It needs parties that are ready to take up the slack if the Republicans and Democrats start going soft and wobbly. They need a pain in the arse of a similar but not the same political outlook constantly harassing them to keep them honest.  It needs parties that can threaten them with wipe-out like the one that happened in Canada to the Tories.  In short the Republicans and Democrats need parties that remind them that no party is immortal and can be replaced like the Whigs of yore.

The American Republic needs to offer choice to its citizens when it comes to election time. This might help turnout and the perception (somewhat accurate of late) that “both parties are the same.

So as you toss the final tranche of election literature into the bin this Friday, spare a thought for the millions of frustrated disenfranchised Americans in search of a political home.