Sep 20, 2022 5 min read

Two recent political speeches are instructive in understanding the discouraging divide in America.

First, President Biden spoke in Philadelphia, describing the upcoming midterm elections as “a battle for the soul of America.” For the first time, he assailed not only former President Trump but also his followers in the Make America Great Again movement. He concluded that the MAGA agenda has no place in our political process and has become a threat to democracy.

Biden supported his conclusion by describing MAGA positions that 1) reject the results of the last presidential election, 2) would eliminate all abortion, 3) attack the FBI and Justice Department for doing their jobs and 4) seek to restrict access to the ballot box. He was careful in his remarks not to paint all Republicans as MAGA supporters.

Two days later, Trump gave a two-hour speech in Wilkes Barre. The event was scheduled to support the campaigns of Republican candidates running for governor (Doug Mastriano) and for the Senate (Mehmet Oz). Predictably, the speech quickly drifted off into another polemic of grievances and lies. Biden was labeled “an enemy of the state” and the FBI and Department of Justice were called “vicious monsters.”

Midterm elections are usually a referendum on the political party of the president. This is especially the case when the party also controls Congress. Biden’s attempt to make the midterms a referendum on a former president is unprecedented. However, there is something far more troubling than caustic political rhetoric and the sorry state of national politics. In modern times, issues that matter most in peoples’ lives are often being formulated at the state, not the national level. In deciding these issues, the individual states of our republic are drifting so far apart that Abraham Lincoln’s description of “a house divided” is now an appropriate description of America’s political future.

Consider the following divergent public policies on abortion, gun control, immigration and voting rights recently adopted by various states:

n When all the states have responded to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning of Roe v. Wade, it is expected that half will have eliminated or severely curtailed access to abortion.

n Mississippi now bans all abortions, vaccine mandates, the teaching of balanced racial history and transgender students participating in sports based on the gender with which they identify.

n California adopted a law that protects people who came to the state to get or facilitate an abortion against legal actions filed in states where abortion is banned. Gov. Gavin Newsom is dangling California tax credits in front of companies that are seeking to move out of conservative states that limit reproductive, gay and transgender rights.

n Connecticut has expanded access to abortion by allowing physician assistants and certified midwives to perform them.

n In 2020, 10 left-leaning states adopted new restrictions on the purchase or carry of firearms.

n Twenty-three right-leaning states now allow “permitless carry” which removes all restrictions on gun owners being armed in public.

n California has defacto legalized undocumented immigrants by being the first state to offer Medicaid and health insurance available for poor citizens to all immigrants, regardless of status.

n In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott has authorized the state police to return unauthorized immigrants back to the border. He is working to withhold payment for undocumented children to attend Texas public schools.

n Twenty-nine states have expanded access to voting by mail while thirteen states have restricted it.

There are many other examples ranging from climate change, to the Affordable Care Act, to public health issues. Not since the Civil War has the 10th amendment of the Constitution, which reserves to the states the powers not delegated to the federal government, become such an important factor in American politics.

The impact of states’ rights is bound to get worse. In 2020, there were 37 states in which one political party controlled both the governorship and both chambers of the state legislature. When partisanship prevents congressional action, individual states can move quickly to pass legislation opposed by half the nation. Moreover, the conservative U.S. Supreme Court has signaled its intent to follow up on the abortion decision by handing back other critical policy and cultural issues to the states.

What is to be done as America becomes more disunited? At some point, there will be a realization that there is no path toward reconciliation. There will be an admission that the United States is no longer a cohesive citizenry capable of moving forward as a nation. A new arrangement will be required that matches political form to political substance.

Partial defederalization, perhaps similar to the European Union model (a political and economic union of sovereign states) could serve this purpose, though it is fraught with difficulties. Blue states do not want to disadvantage poorer Americans living in conservative states. Red states, despite their attacks against national government, benefit more from federal programs and the distribution of tax dollars.

The alternative is to employ something in short supply – compromise. It should be possible to restore national political equilibrium if Congress radically changes the way it does business. The two political parties can no longer be more extreme than the voters they represent. Primary elections and gerrymandering must be reformed.

Catholic Ireland adopted a national, middle-of-the-road, abortion policy. All of Europe passed sensible gun control, health care, education and climate change laws. These “United States” can do the same.

Gary Stout is a Washington attorney.