Looking Backward from the Tricentennial

Chapter Nineteen (part 1)

"They're like fraternal twins," Julian said wonderingly.

Shirley Nussbaum grinned as he stared inside the parlor. The dimensions were identical to Ray's, with the same seating arrangement in a loose oval, but the walls in the Nussbaums were completely different. Murals splashed joyous color across them, displaying smiling animals and vibrant shapes. "Do you like it?" she said shyly. "I painted them."

"Thanks for having us over," Idabee said, gently prodding him to move through the doorway with a hand on his waist. Unlike yesterday's conversation with Professor Carlton, she'd physically arrived at Ray's condo, leading him through the building to the Nussbaums. They settled into adjacent chairs at the far end of the room.

"Always a pleasure to share a session day with another delegate," Andrea said, joining her wife on the loveseat. "We'll show Julian how the people's legislative assembly works. And thanks for inviting Polly Sigh to visit us beforehand."

A moment later, Polly's holographic form shimmered into the room. The purple hair she'd sported at their first meeting was now jet black, as was her suit. Polly looked around to each of the four faces, and introductions were made.

"Do you mind if I record our conversation?" Andrea asked. "Shirley and I have a small show commentating on the assembly, and I think our viewers would love to learn more about the mechanics of the American Union." Polly agreed, and one by one, everyone gave verbal confirmation. When Andrea's tablet announced that recording was underway, she rattled off a brief introduction of their three guests: Seated Delegate Idabee Leete, daughter of the Dr. Leete who'd recently awakened Julian West, hero of the 2026 reparations rally, and Polly Sigh, an expert in political science.

Julian leaned forward. "Polly, I appreciate how you explained why third parties weren't a way out of the political mess fifty years ago," he said, "but I'm still trying to fully understand how the American Union started as a union of swing voters. Things were so polarized, I have a hard time picturing a bloc of voters willing to vote for both Republicans and Democrats and ignore wedge issues."

"Wedge issues?" Idabee asked.

"Political issues that are used to wedge voters into separate parties, usually through a false dichotomy," Polly explained.

"Why would you want to do that?" Idabee wondered. "Politics is about setting policy, building consensus around solutions."

Julian exploded into laughter. "Building consensus? It was the exact opposite, politics was about keeping people divided."

The four women waited, bemused, for him to sober up. "Julian, do you want to try to answer Idabee's question?" Andrea suggested. "Why would you want to wedge people apart?"

"Money. The almighty dollar," he replied easily. "Get people worked up, and they'll donate money. Campaigns cost millions of dollars, so the more angry people you had contributing, the better your chance of winning."

"That's a good point," Polly conceded. "The other part, though, is polarization. Wedge issues generated single-issue voters that were essential to maintaining a stable political base. That wedge could be made bigger by demonizing the other side, promoting an us-versus-them mentality that creates party loyalty.

"Of course, there was a practical problem with consolidating voters around opposite sides of a single issue. The people who were the most passionate about an issue also tended to have the most extreme views, which produced a downward spiral of demonization and polarization."

"Because demonization is good for fundraising," Julian said.

"What about their constitutional duty to insure domestic tranquility?" Idabee asked. "Were they just ignoring that?"