Most Americans have grown sick and tired of the bitter partisan atmosphere that can be found in Washington. The disgust with partisan gridlock, in fact, is one of the main reasons that Barack Obama has had so much success. People realize that he brings a new type of politics to the Washington that might actually result in restoring our faith in the American government.
Over the last few days, however, the leaders of the national Republican Party proved that they simply don't grasp that concept. Despite using catchy words like "change," John McCain, Sarah Palin, and the other primary speakers at the Republican National Convention simply decided to bash Obama and accuse his supporters as silly big government liberals. While this might have rallied the delegates in the hall, viewers at home were frustrated with the lack of issues being discussed and it's likely that might result in some backlash against the Republican Party. What worries me, however, is that the national Republican Party has created such a partisan environment that it could potentially even harm discussion at the local level.
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We have already started to see this happen in Virginia's state legislator as the Republicans haven't allowed a legitimate solution to our transportation issues to make its way through the general assembly in years. Now the political tensions also seem to be heating up on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors since there's a strong possibility that Gerry Connolly will be elected to Congress and there will be an election to replace him as Chairman of the Board. Since we are currently facing a $430 million projected shortfall, extreme partisanship that prevents progress can have a very negative impact on Fairfax residents.
With the reaction to the Republican Nation Convention being a prime example of the public's backlash against bitter partisanship, I have faith that that the Republican supervisors will realize they don't want to follow the path of their national leaders. My supervisor, for instance, is Republican Pat Herrity and he's always been willing to hear me out and genuinely seems to be interested in what I have to say. So while we have a difference of opinion on a variety of topics, I think he shows the leadership that is lacking at the national level for the Republicans. Let's hope Herrity and the other Republicans on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors saw the negative reaction the Republican's National Convention and continues to listen to people on both sides of the aisle.