The Best That You Can Do: One Man's Attempt to Bridge America's Political Divide

Robert Schlaffer has had it.

A twenty-nine year veteran of New York City's Transit Authority who recently retired as a manager, he has been monitoring American political affairs closely since well before the 2008 presidential election, and finds himself equally disappointed with the policies of both the Republican and Democratic parties. Instead of merely venting his anger through the airwaves of talk radio, or the pages of an inevitably seldom-read blog, he has decided to do something requiring a bit more fortitude; establishing his own political movement, which he has dubbed the Best Party, inspired by the highly entertaining, and smashingly successful, pursuits of Icelandic comedian Jon Gnarr.

Mr. Schlaffer is also my close uncle; when he asked me to write a bit about his new organization, I was only too happy to oblige. "The Best Party," he explained, "believes in democracy; government by the people. Members can align themselves with any party. We got ourselves into this political quandary as a result of Republicans and Democrats becom(ing) too ridgid in following the party line (whether this be) right or wrong."

That last sentence sounds like exactly the sort of message which I have been trying to get across for nearly a year now.

What about specific stances on key policy issues, though? When it comes to fiscal matters, he told me that, "Those in true need must be included in our social safety net to prevent hunger and homelessness. We must provide some sort of medical aid to those who cannot afford it, but Obamacare is not the option. Those citizens and non-citizens who are taking advantage of government handouts must be rooted out and made to pay back ill-gotten gains."

After hearing this, I could not help but wonder if somehow he had been  reading my mind. On matters relating to foreign policy, however, we differ quite a bit, as the Best Party, "does not see a major threat to our national security" in the present state of international play. We nonetheless reach a mutual point of view on domestic defense issues, with both of us believing that "the threat from white supremacists and radicalized Muslims is of great concern and both must be seen and addressed as an equal threat to our (country's) security."

Article Author: Joseph F. Cotto

Joseph F. Cotto is a scholar and columnist from central Florida. Most often writing about political affairs, he is a member of the all-but-extinct Rockefeller wing of the Republican Party, taking conservative stances on fiscal and national security …

Visit Joseph F. Cotto's author page