KINGSTON, R.I. — Oct. 19, 2023 — An event at which two stalwart leaders from opposing political parties take the stage to talk about political polarization might sound like a recipe for rancor and division. But this week in the University of Rhode Island’s Edwards Hall, former U.S. Rep. Steve Israel and former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus did what few in Washington seem to be able to do these days: They found common ground.
Israel and Priebus were the featured speakers at the second Langevin Symposium at URI, a biannual series that explores topics related to national security, U.S. civics, and democracy. In the series’ latest installment titled “Polarization of Politics in America: Finding the Center,” former U.S. Rep. James Langevin, now a visiting professor at URI, led his guests through a wide-ranging discussion of how we arrived at our current state of political division, and what we can do to get out of it.
In his opening remarks, Langevin pointed out that the nation has seen division before—including a bloody civil war and a deeply turbulent period in the 1960s—but has always found ways to come together.
“In the end, a healthy democracy depends on the collective capacity to hash things out,” Langevin. “And to get there, we need to figure out what’s going on.”
Langevin then turned to the panelists for their opinions how Americans came to be so divided. Israel and Priebus agreed on two major drivers of division. First, congressional gerrymandering has pushed members of Congress to ever-increasing partisan extremes, taking the electorate with them. Meanwhile, modern media—particularly cable news and social media—make money from division while pushing people into ever more isolated bubbles of thought and opinion.
“It’s a little depressing but I think I’m right: Unity is a loser, and division is pure profit,” said Priebus, who served as chair of the Republican National Committee from 2011 to 2017. “There’s no money in unity. There [are] no book sales in unity. There [are] no [ratings] on cable networks, and there are no clicks in unity.”
On the problem of congressional gerrymandering, Israel pointed out just how much things have changed since he and Langevin were first elected to Congress in 2001. Back then, he said, there were around 150 congressional districts nationwide considered to be moderate and competitive for both parties. But as maps have been redrawn to create safer seats for each party, the number of competitive districts has dwindled dramatically.
“There are 30 districts out of 435 where bipartisanship, moderation, and coming to the center is a political value,” said Israel, who served as Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee from 2011 to 2015. “Most members of Congress these days do not wake up…in the morning fearing that they’re going to be defeated by the other party. They fear that they’re going to be defeated in a primary by someone further to the left or further to the right. So, what do they do? They pursue those extremes.”
What’s needed, Israel continued, is bipartisan redistricting reform that creates balanced districts rather than ones designed to keep incumbents in office.
The two also agreed that Americans’ growing disaffection with government and economic institutions contributed to the rise of a divisive figure like Donald Trump. “Trump,” Priebus said, “was the biggest middle finger that the American people could find.”
Israel underscored just how serious he believes this situation is.
“I do not fear the collapse of the United States due to a foreign attack,” he said. “I fear the collapse of the United States due to the divisions we have now.”
As the conversation turned to how to move forward from the present state of division, Israel and Priebus expressed confidence that the next generation, including some of the students sitting in the audience, are the answer. Israel, who currently teaches at Cornell University, says conversations with his students fill him with optimism.
“I think that my generation—Reince’s generation, Jim’s generation—I’m not sure we have the solutions anymore,” Israel said. “But I am so confident when I listen to my students—when I observe their critical thinking skills, when I witness their intolerance of intolerance. Those are my most optimistic moments.”
Priebus echoed Israel’s optimism and urged students not to turn away from the public discourse.
“A lot of college kids are really turned off by modern politics,” Priebus said. “They like the issues of what we’re talking about, but they don’t like the politics of it. In fact, they hate it and a lot of them want nothing to do with it. But I need to encourage you, that if you don’t like the politics part of politics, to get involved in it—fix it.”
The two didn’t agree on everything, of course. Priebus said he was confident that if the presidential election were held today, Donald Trump would very likely win. Israel disagreed, contending that swing voters would ultimately break for Biden.
But both said they hoped the conversation could serve as an example of how two people with different views can still get along.
“I want college kids to see that you can have two partisan people that actually like each other,” Priebus said. “We don’t agree on some things, of course. But you can actually have fun in having a conversation, disagreeing, and talking about the issues that matter to all of us.”
