The post-World War II era ended twenty-five years ago with the fall of the Soviet Union. After 9/11 the political elites from both major political parties failed to reconstruct their parties to meet the changes required to continue American world leadership in the Twenty-First Century. Republican George Bush followed Bill Clinton in 2001 but was caught up in 9/11 and the Middle East misadventures. Bush was unable to see that the Cold War Republican Party of his father was obsolete. Failing to develop competent leaders following moderate Bill Clinton, the Democratic Party elected progressive outsider Barack Obama in 2008.
In the period after the Clinton Administration, both parties presented the public with an uninspiring group of unsuccessful presidential candidates – Al Gore, John Kerry, John McCain, Mitt Romney, and Hillary Clinton. But no one took the reins to remake their party until Barack Obama transformed the Democratic Party into its current progressive identity. Obama’s New Progressive Party lost twice to outsider Donald Trump and filled the gap between Trump’s two terms with a proxy, Joe Biden.
Until Trump’s recent return from the dead, Obama’s cadres and old Congressional leaders from both parties dominated the political scene. Nancy Pelosi ruled the House of Representatives for the Democrats for almost two decades, while Mitch McConnell ruled the Republicans in the Senate with an iron hand. This tightly controlled atmosphere on Capitol Hill was not conducive to young leaders developing to reform either party for the needs of the Twenty-First Century.
At the State level, reacting to Obama’s progressive policies, voters turned many of the more moderate Democratic state governments over to Republican control. As a result, Republicans have controlled approximately sixty percent of the State governments giving the Republican Party much more political strength outside of Washington than within. Plus, the Republican Party was able to develop a much deeper bench of young politicians from the States to remake their party than those in the Obama/Pelosi Democratic Party.
It took political outsider Trump with a presidential win, a loss, and then another win to overcome the old-guard Washington Republicans who had been the Never-Trumpers who had joined the Democrats to oppose him during his first term. Judging by the energy that is propelling him into the White House next week, Trump is well on his way to remaking a new Republican Party, both domestically and internationally. Vice President-elect J.D. Vance and numerous other young Republicans, such as Ron DeSantos and Marco Rubio of Florida, provide Trump with the Young Turks needed to carry on his policies in 2028 following his final four years as president.
But to provide responsible world and domestic leadership, the nation needs two responsible political parties. Unfortunately, Biden left Obama’s Progressive Democratic Party in shambles, leaderless, and pointing fingers at each other as to who was to blame for losing twice to Trump. Biden’s stand-in, Kamala Harris, was an aberration, and the recent Californian fires have revealed that their ambitious governor has feet of clay and a mind cluttered with toxic fumes.
To complete the Trump remaking of the Republican Party and to enable the Democratic Party to recover from the Obama/Biden/Pelosi years and rehabilitate itself, the nation should rally around a constitutional amendment to place term limits on elected Congressional Senators and Representatives. Term limits for representatives would open the way for younger representatives of both major parties who have not used long tenure in Washington to increase their personal wealth.
Nacy Pelosi, with thirty-eight years in the U.S. House of Representatives, has accumulated an estimated net worth of $240 million earned on a Congressional salary of under $200 thousand per year; underachiever Mitch McConnell with forty years in the U.S. Senate has only managed to accumulate a paltry estimated $125 million. He should have tried harder, worked longer hours!
Senate elections have been dominated by big-money donors who have bought off many senators away from the interests of their state voters. Returning the election of Senators back to the State legislators, as provided for in the original Constitution until changed by Amendment XVII in 1913, would be a big step in removing those who do not represent We the People and in limiting the influence of special interest groups with their billions of dollars to spend on nationalized Senate elections.
After a quarter of a century in the political wilderness, America needs two responsible political parties that will work together to reduce federal spending. Our annual budget deficit has expanded to $2.0 trillion annually. Rising massive national borrowing has now exceeded $36 trillion. With annual interest exceeding that of our Defense budget, this massive deficit will continue fueling uncontrollable inflation. Our national security has been compromised in the face of an aggressive Axis of Evil consisting of Russia, China, and Iran.
America needs a responsible two-party system again to get the country on the right track again as the new Trump administration is inaugurated next week. The cleansing purge of Congressional term limits may be the only way the Democratic Party can again become a positive force, bringing our government back into the needs of the People and helping America meet the challenges if faces the remainder of this Century.
TW3
January 16, 2025
John Whitmore Jenkins
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