‘Whataboutism’ is exhausting; can we get around it?
Partisan back-and-forth can make following politics feel like watching tennis. One side lobs an accusation at the other side, which immediately returns a volley of criticism on a somewhat-related subject. That’s whataboutism and it’s exhausting.
But while neither side is without sin, only one party is offering solutions that improve democracy. To better understand this dynamic, let’s focus on two issues: money from undisclosed sources (dark money) flooding elections and gerrymandered legislative districts.
Over the last 11 years, dark money groups have poured more than six billion dollars into elections through super PACS and other secretive vehicles.
This was made possible by the 2010 Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. FEC, which outlawed limits on independent political expenditures. While the ruling was cheered by conservative activists, both parties have taken full advantage of it; of the top 10 super PACS in the 2020 election, five supported Republicans and five supported Democrats.
The fact that these secret donations and expenditures are legal hasn’t stopped populists on both sides of the aisle from rightfully decrying the political influence of faceless mega-donors.
They’re right to do so.
Unlimited political spending gives a few super-rich people outsize power in our democracy. One would think that a populist, bipartisan coalition would have formed to fight elite, billionaire political control, right? Not quite.
A constitutional amendment that would overturn the Citizens United decision, has 68 congressional cosponsors. One is a Republican.
Now, let’s consider gerrymandering, the practice of unfairly drawing electoral district lines to benefit certain political parties or candidates. In recent decades, technology has given gerrymander-ers unprecedented control, with sophisticated programs carving districts around specific neighborhoods – even houses. Politicians can quite literally pick their voters. In 2011, Ohio Republicans used these tools to create 12 safe, Gop-leaning seats in the state’s 16-seat Congressional delegation, cementing a 75-percent Republican majority in a purple state. Democrats have complained and called for the revision of clearly partisan maps here and in other Gop-governed states such as Texas and Florida.
Republicans counter by pointing to districts drawn by Democrats in Illinois and Maryland to shut Republicans
out of power.
No matter which party does it, gerrymandering is toxic for our democracy.
It results in uncompetitive elections that breed complacency and corruption. U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-calif., has introduced a bill that would create independent, non-partisan redistricting commissions in every state and end partisan gerrymandering. Surely this could garner the support of Illinois Republicans alongside Texas Democrats, right? Wrong.
Of the bill’s 83 co-sponsors, none are Republicans. Are you sensing a theme here? Republicans will take every opportunity to wield whataboutism to deflect criticism, yet they refuse to participate in working to make the system fairer for everyone.
Earlier this year, the House of Representatives passed the For the People Act, which includes redistricting reform, campaign finance transparency, among other common-sense fixes to strengthen our democracy.
Not a single Republican voted for it. If Republicans want credibility when criticizing Democrats, then it’s time for them to be part of finding solutions.
Will Mckelvey is a Dayton native. He currently works in the U.S. House of Representatives. Guest columns are submitted or requested opinion pieces of about 550 words.