From the gridlock in Washington, to actual physical clashes between protestors on the streets of Portland, and now a series of what appear on the face of it politically-motivated bomb scares. The party lines seem more entrenched than ever. Indeed, several experts 鈥� the political center just isn't holding.
It鈥檚 no surprise people are angry and divided. Some of the most contentious issues in politics today 鈥� things like gun rights, abortion, and immigration 鈥� get to the core of how people identify themselves 鈥� and what they believe the country stands for.
Individual elections, court rulings, judicial appointments, and the outcomes of bills are cast as 鈥渨ins鈥� and 鈥渓osses鈥� for either the Republicans or Democrats. Garland resident David Hasley is fed up.
"We are tired of the BS, we want the US," Hasley says.
Hasley was wearing a red and blue checked shirt the day of our interview. It matched the pin on his chest that said " ." It鈥檚 the name of a movement he鈥檚 trying to lead to encourage civil political discourse, cooperation, and compromise.
"We just need to tweak it and get it back to 鈥榳e the people鈥� run it rather than the Republican party or the Democratic party because that doesn鈥檛 necessarily represent 鈥榳e the people鈥� 鈥� it represents a small percentage of the people, I believe," Hasley says.
His plan? Get people to sign up online and tell him what they believe most people can agree on 鈥� maybe things like infrastructure and education 鈥� then he鈥檒l send that information to their representatives.
"Let鈥檚 figure out a way to come to the middle and sit there and say, hey, how can we fix these issues that we can agree on and then build the trust so we can reach out to the things that we disagree on and we鈥檒l have a better chance of coming up with a solution that鈥檚 best for both sides," Hasley says.
Hasley isn鈥檛 coming to all of this from a political background. He was in education and then left a business career to do this full time. His big inspiration was his family.
"You know I鈥檝e got five kids and when we go on vacation, just finding out where we鈥檙e going to eat, you know OK, we would cuss and discuss and figure out, OK 鈥� do we want nuggets, do we want burgers? We can do that," Hasley says.
Hasley says what he鈥檚 really missing to get this done is contacts 鈥� people with a way to get his vision in front of someone like Oprah.
Wimberley resident Matthew Dowd may be just that person. While Dowd may not have Oprah鈥檚 direct line 鈥� he does have serious connections in politics. He worked with Arnold Schwarzenegger and George W. Bush. He also has big connections in media 鈥� he鈥檚 the Chief Political Analyst for ABC News. And he鈥檚 the founder of a movement of his own 鈥� . Dowd wants to see the emergence of third parties and/or the evolution of current ones.
"There鈥檚 this psychological problem right now and it鈥檚 the biggest hurdle to getting to where we want to go which is 鈥� I gotta pick between one of the two and if I don鈥檛 pick between one of the two then my vote鈥檚 a waste," Dowd says.
Getting people out of that two-party structure may seem impossible. But Dowd says this fraught political moment may be just what is needed to precipitate another big readjustment in the system.
"Well great change never happens unless people are frustrated and upset," Dowd says. "We鈥檝e gone through instances in our American history where we have been as troubled and as tribalized as we are now. It鈥檚 happened a few times. And we鈥檝e come out of those better."
There was the Civil War, of course, and then the restructuring after the Great Depression. But to actually get from simply Democrat versus Republican to something else in politics鈥� Dowd says it鈥檒l take lots of little steps by individuals.
Individuals, perhaps, like Austinite Preston Waller. He didn鈥檛 start a movement with a catchy slogan. He鈥檚 just a voter who has long leaned Republican 鈥� but who is frustrated with the current tone.
"I could tell you more about where my vote is not going to go at this point," Waller says. "Typically I would place party as an influential factor in that but, in this situation, I feel I鈥檓 best off voting for the candidate as opposed to the party."
If you鈥檙e thinking that seems pretty obvious鈥� think about the last time you actually did the same. Waller says he鈥檚 not happy with the direction of the Republican party but Democrats listening shouldn鈥檛 take that as a win.
"I think starting in a position that puts you in a different category as others automatically can put people on the defensive and can keep them from working on principles and base values that can be important to both sides," Waller says.
UnifyUs Founder David Hasley agrees.
"One of my dreams is to have the CEO of Pepsi and Coca Cola to sit and say, here is my Coke, here is my Pepsi and take a sip and say, 鈥極h, I see why you like Pepsi or I see why you like Coke,'" Hasley says.
The message from all three of these fed up Texans seems to be that any change isn鈥檛 going to come from parties or politicians 鈥� but just regular people.
Copyright 2020 KUT 90.5. To see more, visit . 9(MDAxODQzOTgwMDEyMTcyNjI4MTAxYWQyMw004))
