Caffeinated Politics

Politics actually got darker and more toxic on Sunday. Many of us felt that was not even possible.

Politics has always been a seriously rough-and-tumble business, filled with bruised egos, broken alliances, and hard feelings that sometimes linger long after Election Day. But sabotage? When I read about the Democratic primary loser in the Michigan Senate race endorsing Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers, I was stunned into silence. If you know me, that is nearly improbable. Hours later, as I mowed the lawn for the last time this season and stowed the mower away, I wondered if anything comparable had happened in American history. As I finished sprucing up the lawn, I thought about the advice I often give to others when the topic is the most rancorous and wretched presidential election season.

I always press that if you want to understand real venom and acid in the veins, read about the 1800 presidential election. And when I recalled my own words, it was Alexander Hamilton who made the link to sabotage. He actively tried to sabotage his party’s own nominee, incumbent President John Adams. Hamilton wanted the Federalist vice-presidential candidate, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, to win the presidency instead of Adams. He pressured Federalist electors in the South to withhold votes from Adams so Pinckney would come out ahead.

Most people in politics, then and now, understand an unwritten rule. You fight like hell in an election, then you accept the voters’ verdict. And you certainly never hand the other side ammunition on the eve of the general election. That rule is not merely political courtesy. It is the foundation upon which party politics exist.

That is why Stevens’ attack on Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed deserves condemnation from anyone who still believes character matters in public life. Or that even just a shred of decency matters.

I do not care what disagreements remained after the primary, or what snit Stevens could not iron out or come to terms with. The bottom line was she lost. What she showed to the entire state of Michigan and the nation is that if Democratic voters would not choose her, then she would work to sabotage the Democratic candidate.

History is littered with politicians who lost nominations. For Pete’s sake, get in line, Haley. You really are not so special. What they did not do is march across the political and partisan battlefield and publicly embrace the opposing enemy days before the decisive election. Stevens showed she is akin to a peevish child who cares not a whit that being a grown-up in politics requires accepting that voters are the ultimate authority, even when they disappoint us.

Stevens has cheapened politics. Who knew that was even still a possibility? I want to take that point for a moment and ask you to consider it. Talk about adding oxygen to cynicism, a problem that already poisons American politics. Millions of voters believe politicians care more about personal grudges than public service, as the Trump White House has shown. They believe ambition outranks principle. Sunday, Stevens handed those voters another exhibit for the prosecution.

Stevens chose public bitterness today, and as a woman who chatted with me while I did outdoor projects said, “No eyeshadow color or blush can cover up a lack of character.”

To the heart of the matter.