The answer to our political culture is electing more moderates

Full disclosure: In the 60 years I have been eligible to vote, I have been a registered Republican for 58 of those and an independent for the last two.

The confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court has been described as bitter and hostile. This is a shame, as she appears to me to be an excellent jurist and superbly qualified for the position.

Unfortunately, in today’s political climate her nomination and confirmation progressed completely along party lines. This was, in great part, due to the failure of the nomination of Judge Merrick Garland four and a half years ago when Senator McConnell refused to have his nomination considered in the Senate due to the “upcoming” election.

It’s amazing how this doesn’t apply when his party holds the presidency.

The divisiveness in our political institutions reflects the divisiveness in our country and each contributes to the other. In the first sentence of The Constitution of the United States there is a phrase “to contribute to the common welfare.”

If one holds the Constitution to be the basis for the law of the land and expects our political institutions to behave in that manner, one would expect the various parties to attempt to work together in an effort to accomplish that aim.

Instead, the attempts to work across the aisle and to compromise, those efforts that were such a strong part of the Reagan administration, are rare and are strongly criticized when they occur.

I have no ready solution. Term limits are attractive, but don’t appear to be the answer.

Electing people from the moderate segments of each party and avoiding the extremes is essential, but that doesn’t seem to be the direction in which we are heading.

I am discouraged.

Ira B. Ehrlich, MD, Scottsdale