WASHINGTON, D.C.– Residents of D.C. agree on the importance of bipartisanship, regardless of political association, in the wake of recent politcal climate.
Sam Michaels, 21, sees bipartisanship as an opportunity to work constructively with others to produce significant legislative results. Michaels wishes that legislators could put a solution in place to reduce climate change.
Healthcare is a primary concern for Kathryn Walters-Conte, American University College of Arts and Sciences’ Science Coordinator. She believes that it is unreasonable for one political party to create a new healthcare system without consulting others with different priorities. Walters-Conte said that she has discussed healthcare with people aligned with both parties, but she thinks that overeager partisanship obscures actual policy making.
While Walters-Conte is concerned about health care, others are focused on other pressing issues.
Former political science major and lawyer Dawn Langer, 62, is concerned about the Middle East and North Korea. The instability of the governments involved, she said, occasionally keep her up at night.
Many Americans make an effort to avoid heated political discussions, but those who are willing to converse with people who feel differently agree that both sides usually develop a more meaningful understandings of each other.
Julie Walton, student affairs assistant at American University, is a self-described conservative. She said that working on a liberal college campus affords her endless opportunities to discuss her viewpoint with people who do not agree with her.
“We’re both trying to make a cake, and you think you should do eggs, sugar, and then flour, and I think you should do flour, sugar, and then eggs,” Walton said. She went on to explain how she believes people lose sight of the big picture, the metaphorical cake.
It seems as though the general electorate has a thorough understanding of bipartisanship. One can hope that this will translate into Congress as they work to pass legislation.
“Even if I don’t agree, we ought to be able to find a place of sincerity,” Walton said.