How VP candidates should have responded to the Utah middle schooler’s question

Democratic vice presidential candidate California Sen. Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence take part in the vice presidential debate at Kingsbury Hall at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret News

The honest answer to Brecklynn Brown’s question should have been: “We lack the courage to work with each other to resolve the issue of how party politics cripples our country.”

The recent vice presidential debate ended with the candidates responding to a question by Brecklynn Brown, an eighth grader at Springville Junior High in Springville, Utah. Her question: “When I watch the news, all I see is arguing between Democrats and Republicans. ... all I see are two candidates from opposing parties trying to tear each other down. If our leaders can’t get along, how are the citizens supposed to get along?”

Unfortunately, neither candidate responded to Brecklynn’s comment well. Vice President Mike Pence said: “We love a good debate … but we always come together and are always there for one another.” No, they don’t. It reminded me of how preachers sometimes describe their church by saying, “The church stands for such and such.” It took me a long time to realize they were talking about how church members ideally should be acting, not the way they always actually did.

Sen. Kamala Harris said: “I love to hear from our future leaders. ... It will be because of your leadership.” What she really was saying is: “We don’t know how to solve this problem now, but we hope you can!” This was not encouraging.

To help understand why politicians fight and will keep fighting, I want to share a story: I once was talking to a young congressman at a social dinner, and I told him who my congressman was. He said, “Oh, yes, he’s a good friend.” Since they were from different parts of the country, I asked, “How is he a good friend?” He thought for a moment and said, “He contributes a lot to my campaign.”

I was very surprised, thinking, “Wow, they actually contribute to each other’s campaigns!” This eventually led me to a deeper understanding of how parties work. If you want to have a bill passed into law, your party has to win a majority in both the House and the Senate. To win the presidency, you have to play as a team. You have to support each other — not only financially, but you have to vote the way your team tells you. If you don’t win the House, Senate and presidency, you have to wait for four years to get what you want done. In the meantime, your team tries to stop the other team all along the way.

What I just described is a simplified version of the nuances of partisan government, but it gives us some idea why the two parties are always fighting with each other. If they want to get anything done, they are desperate to stop the other team. That’s what Vice President Pence and Sen. Harris could not tell us in the debate.

Many people think of “Republican” or “Democrat” as who we are, part of our being. But those party names are simply labels that describe something we do — the way we vote. We need to separate our identity from our party. Brecklynn made a good start in doing this, simply by asking the question she did. What if every teenager asked their parents: What does Republican or Democrat mean to you? What values does that represent for you? In what way does your party support your values?

Most people I talk to have difficulty in answering these questions. Many of us seem to live with the “my team, right or wrong” mentality, without defining the values our team represents. When we look at values, most of us share the same values. But we are stuck in an electoral system where the other team is different, bad and should lose. In the big picture, the real team is not Democrats or Republicans but the American people. That team loses in every election.

The honest answer to Brecklynn’s question should have been: “We lack the courage to work with each other to resolve the issue of how party politics cripples our country.”

Frank Sanitate is a writer who lives in Santa Barbara, California. He has published three books: “Beyond Organized Religion,” “Don’t Go to Work Unless It’s Fun,” and “Money — Vital Unasked Questions and the Critical Answers Everyone Needs.” He was formerly the president of Frank Sanitate Associates.

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