Fords Bipartisanship: How to Keep It Alive?
WASHINGTON – Can we make it last – the wave of good feeling, bipartisanship, shared patriotism – that infused President Ford’s funeral? For a while, perhaps. One may hope that the ascendant Capitol Hill Democrats will grant the vanquished Republicans some of the minority party rights that dimmed in recent years. Partisan of every stripe may remember, at least for a while, Gerald Ford’s good-humored steadiness, his pragmatic and moderate voice. But is there any way to diminish the forces that so easily demean our public dialogue – bitter special-interest politics, the corrupting influence of campaign cash, the demonizing of opponents, the lure of attack ads? Across grass-roots America, there are some hints of hope. In Minneapolis, Minn., and Oakland, Calif., in Davis, Calif., and Pierce County, Wash., voters last November approved “instant runoff” or “proportional representation” election measures. Under instant runoff, voters make their first, second and third choice among candidat
