This, of course, is unfair. Candidates on both sides of the political divide are clever and accomplished individuals, but it does underscore a fundamental difference between American politics and politics in many other democracies. American politics are dramatic. In such a partisan system with few true independents, candidates often realize that riling up the indignation of their followers so that they go out and vote is more effective than rationally convincing voters to switch sides. The recent election was meant to be about economic fundamentals. In the end we watched as candidates rehashed old social issues ad nauseam and played on our emotional responses to moral questions.
This focus on emotionalism and social issues is — without doubt — effective. Princeton students often seem to pride themselves on being above party politics, but even people here got aggressive. I heard one Democrat scream incredulously at a Republican on Election Day, “How can you pick economic growth over your own vagina?” Personally, I didn’t know the two were mutually exclusive. But the election may set it up that way.
Most Princeton Republicans I know would rather not sacrifice their vaginas (or their friends’ vaginas) but feel strongly about forging a thriftier future for America. I imagine that they are disappointed by how reactionary elements moved the discourse away from the more practical task of economic reconstruction. In Canada, we’ve already made that shift: Conservatives have become “Warriors for gay rights,” as one recent article in the National Post called them, and the subject of political debates has returned to more nuanced policy issues. Americans may brush this off as an example of how “true conservatives” do not exist in Canada, but embracing LGBT rights has been a reluctant and highly pragmatic decision. As the article puts it, “by focusing on free enterprise and individual liberties, instead of religious and cultural issues, Canada’s conservatives have been able to maintain a ‘much broader tent than the Republican Party in the United States and a stronger movement overall.’ ”
In the end, however, students inevitably gravitate toward social issues. We may like to think that we vote for more than our individual interests, but the mechanics of economic policy simply do not capture the attention of students who lead lives quite sheltered from employment and other real-life stressors. Fighting for social issues, on the other hand, makes us feel like righteous activists. It is much more glamorous. My own attachment to social issues was so singular that once I discovered that the Canadian conservatives were not against gay marriage, I did not know why I was voting against them. If other students are anything like me, we can all take a more well-rounded approach to our political affiliations.
Our focus on social issues can also help explain our lack of political discourse on campus. Because we have a tendency to assume that all politics is social issues, we make the leap that all conservative opinion is bigoted. If conservative connotes anti-gay sexist and liberal connotes human rights defender, then it is no wonder that conservatives feel marginalized on campus. All of us respond to this mostly by awkwardly avoiding political conversations that might spark the emotional moralizing that often surrounds social issues. There are other political conversations to be made.
It is not that social issues are not important; gay marriage is obviously a very personal issue for some. However, there is a great tendency on both sides to dredge up issues from the past — like abortion and reproductive rights — to stir up a more feverous and partisan election effort. They draw attention away from new issues and obliterate nuances in election campaigns.
Should we take a page out of Canada’s book? Canada’s politics are sober but, I admit, boring. Support for Stephen Harper, our uncharismatic prime minister, is based mostly on the popular belief that someone so impersonal must be a capable technocrat. A candidate of the Liberal party adopted Obama-like rhetoric about hope and change and won the fewest seats for his party in its entire history. It would be a great shame to see the inspirational passion and the unique charm of American politics disappear, but let’s not let social issues obscure a more balanced political discourse on campus and hinder respect for our peers’ political diversity.
William Beacom is a sophomore from Calgary, Canada. He can be reached at wbeacom@princeton.edu.
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