Political parties are more than poles apart

Clear ideological lines are the reality of today’s Washington politics. This fact of political life is a direct result of two diametrically opposed election cycles: the “liberal/progressive revolution” of 2008 and the Tea Party-inspired right turn of 2010.

Yet, even today, my coffee-shop conversations with average voters often include the complaint that there’s not a pound worth of difference between the parties. So why bother to vote? 

{mosads}Sometimes this thought is the (simple) observation of those who fail to follow the ebb and flow of Capitol Hill politics. “A plague on all their houses!” is the natural indictment typically invoked by these non-involved citizens.

There are other occasions of a more unexpected variety: where active observers of the political scene vent their frustration with a similar charge. Usually these charges come about as the result of one or the other party violating an important agenda item: On the right, profligate federal spending under a Republican administration is one such example; on the left, the recent military intervention in Libya by a dovish president.

In my view, one need look no further than the ongoing partisan battle over the D.C. scholarship program for the very tangible difference between the two major parties — and why elections matter.

A brief review of the tortured history of the D.C. scholarship program reflects full-scale support by congressional Republicans and the Bush administration. Conversely, it took only a few months for a new Obama administration to pull the plug on new scholarship applicants in 2009. The termination of the program fulfilled an important campaign promise by the Pelosi-Reid leadership. An NEA-friendly President Obama followed suit.

Today’s politics are marked by short-term, turbulent election cycles, however. And so a new, pro-voucher Speaker Boehner was quick to include $20 million (over five years) in new voucher aid as an integral part of his recent spending deal with the administration. 

This, then, is as tangible a difference as one can imagine — one election cycle, one new House majority, one new House Speaker, hundreds of poor, mostly African-American schoolchildren (again) provided the opportunity to choose quality over monopoly, and thousands of thankful, often tearful parents.

Parenthetically, objective analysis from a variety of well-respected investigators (including the Obama administration’s Education Department research arm) reflects what common sense would lead one to suspect: Voucher recipients score better on standardized reading tests and enjoy substantially higher graduation rates as compared to their peers in the D.C. public schools. Predictably, parental satisfaction scores quite high as well.

Even the most cynical among us should recognize that elections count. Partisan differences count. Leaders count. The next time you hear someone repeat the charge that “those Republicans and Democrats are all the same” — just take the time to educate them about those D.C. schoolchildren who have been given a second opportunity at a quality education. And all because of one very important election. 

Ehrlich is the  former governor of Maryland and is currently a partner at King & Spalding.