Partisanship may have finally peaked. It’s about time.
It can be hard to hear anything over U.S. President Donald Trump’s bluster. But look closer. A fascinating trend is emerging ahead of the U.S. midterm elections, with wider implications. A handful of candidates are galvanizing voters by ditching their party’s jersey altogether.
In Texas, U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico is on the ballot as a Democrat but publicly rejects the left vs. right dichotomy and insists he’s running for “Texas above any party.” In Maine, longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins hit the campaign trail with former Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin in tow, to underscore her bipartisan credentials.
Polls show Iowa is poised to elect a Democrat, Rob Sand, as governor for the first time in 20 years. Sand has made an impression by saying he “can’t wait” to work with Republican lawmakers. At town halls, Sand delivers a magnificent line: “Right wing, left wing, same bird. Flies a lot better with two wings, doesn’t it?”
I could be a little smug here and say Canada has already figured this out. After all, Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney drew votes (and then floor-crossers) from across the political spectrum. He has earned a reputation for being focused on the bigger picture, and Canadians have rewarded him with the highest approval rating in the country’s history.
But smugness would be premature. Carney’s election was in no small part a reaction to Trump. However, a shared threat isn’t the same as a changed culture. More measured politics take a full-time commitment, from candidates, voters, and governments. Which brings us to the next test, Monday’s municipal election in Toronto.
It’s been a hard-fought race. The final week of polling showed incumbent Mayor Olivia Chow and challenger Brad Bradford in a dead heat. Of course, there are no party labels in municipal politics. But voters know that Chow is the progressive, and Bradford is the conservative. Impressively, both have earned high-profile endorsements from outside their respective NDP and Conservative bases. At the time of writing, six Liberal MPs in Toronto have endorsed Chow and six have endorsed Bradford.
Last month, Ontario’s Conservative Premier Doug Ford caused a stir when he described his relationship with Chow as “phenomenal.” By all accounts, this is simply the truth. Shortly after Chow took office, the two got to work on a “new deal for Toronto,” It moved the Gardiner and DVP to the province and gave Toronto $1.2 billion in operating relief. Neither side got everything it wanted, and both could claim a win.
Yet Ford speaking so highly of Chow’s leadership became headline news that needed walking back. His office clarified the next day that it wasn’t an endorsement.
Positive working relationships across the aisle don’t have to be earth-shaking revelations. We could normalize them. I say that from experience.
I came up in politics, working for Ontario Premier Mike Harris in the 1990s alongside people like John Baird, who is still a good friend. But here’s something that often surprises people: I consider Olivia a good friend, too. We have known each other since the 1980s, when Olivia was a school trustee and an early ally in the fight for equal rights for LGBTQ Canadians. She was on the left, I was on the right, but that wasn’t an insurmountable obstacle. We had our eye on the same prize.
Partisanship would have kept us apart. The cause kept us together.
Toronto is a city with many challenges, and to their credit, both Chow and Bradford have remained focused on that fact throughout the campaign. The race hasn’t gotten nasty. It’s addressed the issues voters care about: affordability, traffic and transit, crime and safety. Both candidates care deeply about this city. Chow brings her experience as an immigrant and a legislator; Bradford brings his experience as a former city planner and a young father.
So, my message for whoever wins in Toronto on Monday night is to govern this way, too — putting partisanship to the side and Toronto at the centre.
The campaign proved it can be.
