In his parting words to the Nation in 1789, President George Washington called the “spirit of party” the “worst enemy of the people,” for its tendency to “agitat[e] the Community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms [and to] kindle the animosity of one part against another.” Today, President Washington’s fears have been realized, and our Nation finds itself polarized between left and right, “us v. them,” Democrat v. Republican, locked in a political whipsaw that serves no one well.
It’s time to take our Nation back from the spirit of party and to rededicate ourselves to political independence and the ideal of the citizen legislator embodied by President Washington: to elect men and women of character and integrity, who owe their allegiance not to any particular party, interest group, or ideology, but to “We the People.”
To that end, we make the following pledge, and encourage all those who are tired of politics as usual to do the same.
I Pledge:
- 1. To register to vote as an independent or, if I am currently affiliated with a political party, to change my registration to independent;
- 2. To vote as frequently as I am able in local, state, and federal elections;
- 3. To carefully study the issues and candidates and to vote for those issues and candidates that best reflect my ideals of good government;
- 4. To get my news and information from multiple sources and to consider different views and perspectives; and
- 5. To promote a more civil discourse: to debate issues and ideas rather than engage in posturing or name-calling, and to treat everyone—including those who disagree with me—with dignity and respect.