 RON ARNOLD on FACING CHANGE: A TRANSPARTISAN CHALLENGE November 7, 2008 First, congratulations to President-Elect Barack Obama on his historic achievement. The voice of the people has been heard and a new chapter in American history is about to be written. What will that chapter say when it's finished, four or eight years hence? And how much of what we write for free enterprise will be discernible in its pages? Defenders of free enterprise must be ready for change. We face issues of economic disaster, energy supply, health care, and many more. These are not partisan issues. They affect us all. But the Democratic Party is in power, overwhelming power. Barack Obama will soon be the President of the United States. The Republican Party, traditional champion of free enterprise, is but a frail minority. If we are to preserve the values of free enterprise, we cannot allow change to marginalize us into carping ideologues and helpless hand-wringers. Our challenge is to be transpartisan. Unlike being "non-partisan," which pretends that partisan differences do not exist, being "transpartisan" is to acknowledge the validity of ideas across the familiar left-right political spectrum. Being transpartisan means trying to find solutions to our worst problems without the left-right split. Being transpartisan means to agree without surrendering and to disagree without being disagreeable. Our problems are problems, not Democrat problems or Republican problems. We can disagree on the best way to solve them, but we cannot refuse to solve them. The Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise has often disagreed with those on the left, and will continue to do so. But change is a reality, and it is better to be an effective realist than a powerless partisan. Our time will yet come. We don't know when. So you will see change in us as well as in our government. We will fight to uphold the values of free enterprise, but we will not stand idle when we have to cooperate with strange bedfellows in order to solve problems. We know that may lose us some of our supporters. But rest assured, we will never abandon the principles of America's Founding Fathers - the right to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness. Those Founding Fathers, remember, quarreled with one another more often than not. Just recall Jefferson's vision of America as a nation of yeoman farmers, sturdy and self-contained, and how it clashed with Hamilton's vision of a mercantile and industrial America, trading goods and ideas with the wide world. They exasperated Washington, who personally had to break up their dogfights on many an occasion. So, as leaders of the American Revolution were able to forge a nation of one out of many, despite profound and sometimes violent differences, so we at the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise will seek to build respect for the ideals of free enterprise even while we work on national problems alongside those with different visions. We may agree, but we will not surrender. We may disagree, but we will not be disagreeable. Again, we congratulate President-Elect Barack Obama on his historic achievement. The voice of the people has been heard and a new chapter in American history is about to be written. What will that chapter say when it's finished, four or eight years hence? It depends on how President Barack Obama responds to us, and we to him. President-Elect Obama, be generous in victory. As President, pursue your vision with a transpartisan hand. We offer ours in return. But don't forget: In politics, it's never over. |
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