Senator Robert Smith
by James Norton

"Right now," said Senator Robert Smith (R-NH), "we have one political party in America. It's run by moderate Democrats and moderate Republicans, and conservatives are stuck."

By recently announcing his intention to run for president as a third-party candidate, Smith has taken a strong personal step away from politics-as-usual. Instead, he's moving (for better or worse) toward what may be an increasingly common theme in American politics: the desertion of the radicals from the ranks of the party faithful.

Smith is a U.S. Senator who has long been a staunch Republican, and in his eyes, George W. Bush's candidacy is disastrous. Bush, whose calculatedly not-so-tough stands on issues like taxes, gun control and abortion, represents a new kind of Republican candidate: a potential winner. Affable, moderate and good with money, Bush has his eyes set on the new prize of American politics: the middle ground.

Contrast this with Smith, who is a bona fide conservative. In 1997, he teamed up with Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC) and eight other Republicans to oppose "judicial activism" in any form, signing a statement that read:

Those nominees who are or will be judicial activists should not be nominated by the president or confirmed by the Senate, and I personally will do my best to see to it that they are not.

This sort of blanket statement was a little too radical for the rest of the Senate, but does a good job of summing up the sort of ideological passion that is increasingly rare in the mainstream, i.e. "electable", segment of American politics.

But it's not passionate ideals about social welfare that really seem to get people going anymore. Much more time (for better or worse) is spent identifying what people want, and giving it to them. H.L. Mencken lampooned this sort of behavior a long time ago.

Thus, the bizarre and seemingly increasing trend of moderation in modern American politics. As a Democratic president boots millions off of welfare and continues a war on drugs that is increasingly viewed as pointless and destructive, right-wing Republicans grow increasingly frustrated with the moderate tilt of their party's leadership. It's getting harder and harder to tell one party from another, and it's not just the voters who are confused; just try reading a week's worth of political journalism without seeing some pundit make the same observation.

The ideology of politics used to be what made it so much fun. Who can forget Franklin Roosevelt, Huey P. Long, John F. Kennedy or Richard Nixon? They took tough stands and fought battles for them. The Republicans used to offer you a chance to stand for Christianity, free trade, American overseas meddling, a tough stand against drugs, a tough stand against the poor and the right to make women stop having abortions. The Democrats, one could argue, wanted to redistribute the wealth (a little), enrich social services and education, hobble capitalism, protect a woman's right to choose, and keep America isolated.

Obviously, the lines have always been somewhat undefined, and they've always been blurry. But now, who can tell? Candidates (presidential, particularly) have to sacrifice the majority of their party's distinctive flavor in order to take the middle ground and win the election. Those who fail to do so are "extremists," a term that seems to stick and to make candidates unable to raise the vast funds necessary to successfully run for office.

Increasingly, giving money to a political campaign is beginning to look a lot like betting money at the track. Major donors (corporations, particularly) are increasingly finding it wise to back both candidates in any given race, so that they're covered regardless of what the electorate does.

As Senator Robert Smith makes his quixotic run for the White House, he will unquestionably find out that it isn't easy being an independent. In fact, this is a lesson he'll also learn if he runs for re-election. The chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party, Stephen Duprey, was quoted in The New York Times as saying, of Smith: "This is a selfish move, and it is doomed to failure. It signals the end of his political career in New Hampshire."

Perhaps. But it also signals that the right wing of the Republican party is getting more than a little wobbly, something that may soon be followed by the left wing of the Democrats. If both wings plumb drop off, will a multi-party system arise in America? Will campaign-finance reform (or something more sweeping) give the smaller, more extreme parties a chance to involve themselves in the fray of national politics?

It's possible. Keep an eye on Senator Robert Smith; he's a canary in a fascinating political mine shaft.

E-mail James Norton at jrnorton@flakmag.com.