Jack Danforth’s sick of polarized politics. He ran a poll to see if Missourians agree
For a while now, former Missouri Sen. Jack Danforth has been concerned about American politics.
He thinks things have become too polarized, that Republicans are tugging the country hard to the right and Democrats are tugging hard to the left and the result is a big rip down the middle.
He points to the Republican primary in Missouri for U.S. Senate — a position he held around 27 years ago — as an example.
“They all promise that they’re fighters, that they want to go to Washington and fight,” Danforth said. “They see the country as at war, and they want to be part of that war. Maybe they don’t think that there’s enough fighting and let’s have more fighting in Washington. It’s the opposite of what we need as a country.”
So, he wanted to see if there were others who felt the same way. He commissioned a poll from Serve America Movement, a non-profit centrist political organization attempting to build its own party.
The poll, conducted by Bendixen and Amandi International, surveyed 800 likely voters in the general election and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percent.
It found that 83% of those surveyed agreed with a statement that American politics has become too toxic and they want a Senator who will seek agreement on difficult issues. It also found that an independent, center-right candidate would get 28% of the vote compared with 31% each for a generic Republican and Democrat.
“The poll shows that people overwhelmingly think the two parties don’t represent them,” Danforth said. “They represent people who are the strong believers, who vote in the primary elections where everything is determined, but they don’t represent them.”
Danforth said he did not have a specific candidate in mind. But he added that he thought poll’s findings presented a viable path for someone running as an independent, if they focused on bringing unity to the country.
Traditionally, third party candidates have not had much success in general elections. While there are Independents in office — Sen. Angus King and Sen. Bernie Sanders — they caucus with the Democratic Party and were elected to lower offices as Independents before making it to the Senate.
The last third party candidate to be elected to the U.S. Senate from Missouri was Benjamin Gratz Brown, who served between 1863 and 1867. He was elected as an Unconditional Unionist and became a Republican in 1865.
Independent candidates aren’t able to rely on traditional party infrastructure to raise money and the support that comes with it. Traditionally, the two parties serve as a brand and can provide a shorthand about a candidate’s values to those who may not be well versed in that person’s policy positions.
Danforth said he felt certain a moderate could not win a primary in either the Democratic or Republican Party given the current political make-up.
James Harris, a Republican strategist in Missouri, said he respects that argument Danforth is making, but said he wasn’t sure an Independent candidate could realistically win.
“I think everyone agrees that the dysfunction is not good, whether it’s state or federal level,” Harris said. “But practically, and politically, Missourians are going to vote for a Republican. Voters often look at the brand, a party, and decide who to vote for.”
There is already a crowded race for U.S. Senate. The Republican side has attracted former Gov. Eric Greitens, Attorney General Eric Schmitt, Representatives Vicky Hartzler and Billy Long, Missouri Senate President Dave Schatz and St. Louis Attorney Mark McCloskey. The Democratic side has attracted retired Marine Lucas Kunce, former state Sen. Scott Sifton, real estate agent Spencer Toder and activist Timothy Shepard.
While Danforth takes issue with both political parties, the Republican primary in Missouri also offers up a potentially unique challenge. Many Republicans feel that former Gov. Eric Greitens would struggle to win support from political moderates in the state because of the previous allegations of sexual abuse that caused him to resign from office.
If Greitens were to win the primary and an Independent candidate joined the race, Harris said it could just split the votes between Republicans and enable a Democrat to win. That would create a situation similar to how former President Bill Clinton beat former President George H.W. Bush when Ross Perot ran as an Independent in 1992.
“An independent is not going to be elected Missouri,” Harris said. “All it would really do is aid a potential candidacy of Democrats.”
Another strategy to decrease the polarization of political parties is to introduce ranked choice voting in Missouri. Instead of voting for one candidate, people would list them in order of preference. If any candidate failed to get 50 percent of the vote, the last-place candidate’s votes would be distributed based on their supporters’ second pick until someone reaches 50 percent.
Multiple groups are gathering signatures to get a vote on whether Missourians would like ranked choice voting.
Danforth said ranked choice voting was a separate issue, but that it was addressing the same problem — that both parties have “gone off the deep end.”
“People don’t just disagree, they don’t trust each other, they hate each other,” Danforth said. “And the style of our politics today, both left and right, is the play on all that and to encourage all that. And to turn this into us against them.”
This story was originally published February 18, 2022 at 3:52 PM.