The McCain campaign is casting doubt on how fit Sen. Obama is for the presidency in part because of his highly partisan legislative record. That is, Obama votes with the Democrats “too frequently” (put another way, he is not Republican enough). But is it reasonable to judge a political candidate by the extent to which s/he votes along party lines?
To answer this question, we must first understand that political parties represent different political ideologies (at least in public discourse). A political ideology can be defined as “a set of beliefs and values often forming the basis of an economic or political theory or system” [emphasis added]. This provides the clue to understanding why bipartisanship, per se, is neither good nor bad. Rather, its normative status is contextually dependent. For although there are clearly situations in which the willingness to compromise (or to “reach across the aisle”) is a virtue, there are others in which cooperation requires compromising one’s values (on which ideologies are built). In the latter scenario, “bipartisanship” is a euphemism for the act of betraying the trust of voters whose values you claim to share and promise to defend while in office - and that most certainly is not a virtue.
So, it is not enough for the McCain campaign to criticize Obama on the basis of his partisanship. It has to explain why the particular kind of partisanship practiced by Obama is “bad”.
To answer this question, we must first understand that political parties represent different political ideologies (at least in public discourse). A political ideology can be defined as “a set of beliefs and values often forming the basis of an economic or political theory or system” [emphasis added]. This provides the clue to understanding why bipartisanship, per se, is neither good nor bad. Rather, its normative status is contextually dependent. For although there are clearly situations in which the willingness to compromise (or to “reach across the aisle”) is a virtue, there are others in which cooperation requires compromising one’s values (on which ideologies are built). In the latter scenario, “bipartisanship” is a euphemism for the act of betraying the trust of voters whose values you claim to share and promise to defend while in office - and that most certainly is not a virtue.
So, it is not enough for the McCain campaign to criticize Obama on the basis of his partisanship. It has to explain why the particular kind of partisanship practiced by Obama is “bad”.
