Struggling With Partisanship

I will be the first to admit that I am a generally partisan person. The Democratic Party, for me, is largely the party of right ideas, beliefs, and policies for running an effective government. Yet when it comes to the rough and tumble world of politics there always is and always has been this lingering question. Perhaps it is common sense or perhaps it is guilt or perhaps it is a need to make sure I am not getting too politically outrageous or hysterical (frankly, my Scandinavian heritage barely allows me to show excitement let alone anger and outrage towards others).

The question is, am I attacking this person/party for something that I would defend from my party or someone in my party?

Much of the time the answer is NO (although there is always that nagging feeling) but a few recent examples got me thinking about this and are really the inspiration for this post.

First, the decision by Congress to forego a formal conference and negotiate the final version of Health Care Reform informally. I notice that many conservatives are angry about this, so why aren’t I? Wasn’t I angry about Dick Cheney crafting energy legislation behind closed doors? Better yet, would I be angry if it was Republicans using an informal conference?

Second, is the response by President Obama to the failed Christmas Day attack. Again, many conservatives were and still are angry that Obama didn’t respond immediately but didn’t President Bush encounter a similar situation with the shoe bomber and react in roughly the same amount of time? I don’t remember if I was outraged at President Bush over that incident but if I was shouldn’t I also be outraged about this one? Inversely, shouldn’t conservatives have reacted the same way to either situation? What is the difference other than the partisan affiliation?

Finally, in the last week something that really clinched it. Last week Tom Scheck tweeted about how Majority Leader Pogemiller and Speaker Kelliher would be on MPR to talk Minnesota budget. This set off a whole series of conservatives demanding balance and decrying bias while progressives remained silent. Fast forward to today when Scheck tweeted that Minority Leaders Zellers and Senjem would be on the same program discussing the same topic. This set off progressives demanding balance and decrying bias while conservatives remained silent.

Why do we do this? It’s not like it isn’t blatantly obvious given the digital age we are living in. What makes us accept something from our party that we would shout bloody murder about if the other party did it? I am not interested in hearing about how one side or the other does it more or is meaner about it. I am interested in hearing if others who love politics like I do struggle with this same feeling or if it is that I am not partisan enough or if the answer lies somewhere else (I might just be crazy!).