David M. Walker (center) Photo: Scott J. Ferrell/Congressional Quarterly/AP/file photo.
In the United States, many political voices were excluded from the elections held in early November, from major debates and the media coverage as historically happens in the “best democracy money can buy,” paraphrasing the 2002 bestseller title highlighted by The New York Times, written by American investigative journalist Greg Palast.
In the US two-party hegemony, Democrats and Republicans have become for many decades two sides of the same coin. In a strange democracy where both parties have been champions of the same system, the same policy at home and abroad.
The so-called official presidential debates have been run by the Commission on Presidential Debates, a nonprofit corporation jointly sponsored by the Democratic and Republican parties. It seems Greg Palast didn’t exaggerate in his book, starting with the title.
“We have a republic that is not representative nor responsive to the general public,” stated in the following interview David Walker, who was United States Comptroller General from 1998 to 2008, during the years of Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
As Donald Trump celebrates his return to the White House, perhaps once again much more due to voters’ rejection of the Democrats, whose candidate Kamala Harris was unsuccessfully transformed into something like a “pop-star politician” by the media, not so many are now aware that such a victory costed more exclusion than inclusion in the so-called democracy that boasts of having been “the first democracy in the Americas”.
‘It’s very difficult to get information’ in the US
In his book The Other America: Rise, Crisis, and Decline of the United States (A Outra América: Apogeu, Crise e Decadência dos Estados Unidos, original in Portuguese, Brazilian journalist José Arbex Jr. attributes the growing lack of interest of Americans in politics to the two-party system, a “democracy” in which Democrats and Republicans have been mostly indistinguishable from each other. As the American electorate has no other options.
The fact discussed by Journalist Arbex is confirmed year after year by important US research institutes. None of this is even questioned by the American media. Therefore, it is arguable whether this political system can really be described as a real democracy. For Walker, his country has “a two-party system that needs to be reformed.”
“In this country, the most powerful on Earth, it is very difficult to get information,” said American journalist Amy Godman in the 2012 documentary Shadows of Liberty by Jean-Philippe Tremblay, which questions the power of the American media and the supposed “freedom of the press” in the North-American country. The trumpeted American “democracy” can only survive, even if what remains of it is dying, in an environment like the one described by Goodman.
Walker, who mediated the October 23 presidential debate hosted by the Free & Equal Elections Foundation (video below) among third-party candidates, notes that the US media “is part of the problem rather than being part of the solution” on the issue.
In this interview Walker noted, too, that many citizens in the US vote against a given candidate more out of rejection, than actual preference.
He also pointed out that “the current and prior two Presidential elections did not provide voters with the type of choices they wanted.”
Given this, and adding the fact that George W. Bush preceded Obama by winning two elections in a way that was at least very dubious from a legal point of view, American democracy can be seen as failed as once observed whistleblower John Kiriakou, a journalist, write, and former CIA agent, in a 2016 interview with this author.
Distraction as a weapon against thinking
“Thinking is the hardest work anyone can do, which is probably why we have so few thinkers,” Henry Ford once said. To divert attention and hide such a pathetic (to say the least) American “democracy, the current system – a typical authoritarian regime practice – stoically strives every few years to try to produce icons that soon reveal themselves, exposing their real face.
This is true for Democratic Barack Obama (2009-2017), the Nobel Peace Prize winner who waged genocidal wars from the beginning to the end of his two terms like few other US presidents in recent history. He also achieved the inglorious feat of surpassing his predecessor, the highly warmongering George W. Bush, in the use of killer, too-destructive drones around the world violating international and domestic laws, of foreign states and of the United States itself in several aspects.
Obama has left another negative, for nothing democratic hallmark during his stay at the White House surpassing, in this case, any other tenant of that presidential mansion for relentlessly “hunting” whistleblowers like Kiriakou, Edward Snowden, Julian Assange, and many others. Making whistleblowing a crime against the State, instead of punishing State criminals.
It was also during the government of this same “democrat” so flattered by the local and global media, that there was the most intense espionage worldwide, victimizing everyone from heads of state to human rights activists and even the simplest citizens as denounced by Snowden, now exiled in Russia.
When such made-in-USA icons fail, which is common and the natural consequence of millions of cities getting more and more tired of such a poor political and media daily spectacle, the outcome of the American “democracy fest” tends to get worse.
Goodman’s statement, corroborated by Walker, sure explains why environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. simply ran as an independent candidate in some states in this year’s presidential election, completely unnoticed. Just like several other “hidden” candidates who were not even able to appear on the ballots in several states, much less express their ideals in the so-called “world’s most advanced democracy.”
2024 Election Postmortem – A Third Party Perspective on the Rightward Lurch of the US Body Politic
Democrats and Republicans ‘don’t support choice and competition’
In this interview, the founder of Comeback America Initiative, co-founder of No Labels, and author of America in 2040: Still a Superpower?, said that both Republicans and Democrats want to maintain the status quo. “The two major parties like to keep things simple and simplistic. They do not support more choice and competition.”
At the same time, he noted precisely the growing rejection of the two dominant parties by his country’s electorate. “We have too many career politicians, not enough real competition in most House primaries, too many ideologues who do not want to compromise, and too few politicians who are willing to tell the truth.”
Surely not even Machiavelli would dare to describe democratic a country where, just to begin with (democracy goes far beyond voting, but such a system begins here), there are no free and equal elections. Not to describe the US justice system, blatant electoral frauds, racism, social inequality, child malnutrition, unbridled violence, theft of foreign and local lands (exterminating indigenous peoples, in the latter case), world-leading environmental devastation, war crimes, coups against governments and legitimate democracies around the world year after year, throughout US history.
Great and powerful? Certainly, not fundamentally by democratic means though, as Noam Chomsky pointed out in a 2020 interview with this journalist, the US is progressive in many ways – but too regressive in others. “American culture and society have not erased these deep stains [of discrimination and “exceptionalism”], as is all too obvious in international behavior and domestic affairs”, observed Chomsky.
Walker received the Gold Medal Award of Distinction from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants on October 19, 2008. In 2010, he was inducted into the Accounting Hall of Fame at Ohio State University.
Below, the full interview.
Edu Montesanti: Honorable David Walker, I’d like to first thank you for so kindly granting me this interview, of much importance for all the world, sure, and personally for me a great honor, brightening my job for your outstanding biography as a professional devoted to democracy, transparency and justice. What have been the obstacles in the US “to open the electoral system into one that is fair, transparent, and inclusive for all Americans” as the Free&Equal movement claims, a system I am used to labeling a bipartisan dictatorship?
The two major political parties do not want more competition. They like to keep things simple and simplistic. Providing just two viable and party-endorsed choices to voters facilitates that. However, registered voters have increasingly rejected this approach, and about half of them are now unaffiliated (independent), including me.
David Walker: In my view, we currently have a republic that is not representative of nor responsive to the general public. We clearly need a range of political reforms to revitalize our democracy. That includes more competition via primary reform and ballot access, redistricting reform, campaign finance reform, and term limits. Ranked choice voting also needs to be considered.
How much do you agree, if so, with the definition “bipartisan dictatorship”, to define the US electoral system?
I do not agree with using the term “dictatorship” in connection with the U.S. political system. We have a two-party system that needs to be reformed. In addition, the U.S. Constitution has plenty of checks and balances to prevent any President from trying to become a dictator.
To what extent does the bipartisan electoral system potentially influence, if so, a decline of America in the coming decades according to your question America in 2040: Still a Superpower? the title of one of your books? I see the current system as a permanent self-threat by the US: see that many voters have been voting much more due to their rejection of the opposite candidate, than due to a real preference for those they are voting for, don’t you think so?
The current political system is clearly in need of reform. In my view, the 2020 Presidential elections, and the prior two Presidential elections did not provide voters with the type of choices they wanted. Many people voted against a candidate rather than for a candidate in the general election. In addition, about 70% of registered voters wanted a viable third option for President in 2024 but that did not happen.
We have too many career politicians, not enough real competition in most House primaries, too many ideologues who do not want to compromise, and too few politicians who are willing to tell the truth and make tough choices to address large known, and growing problems before they result in a crisis. That is clearly true in connection with the deteriorating financial position of the U.S. and the need to reform our Social Security system.
Do you think the media questions enough current, two-party system? What’s your view about the media position on the issue, what should we expect from that possibly hasn’t been done by the media, so-called democracy’s watchdog?
No. The U.S. media is currently part of the problem rather than being part of the solution. The public’s trust in government and the media is at or near an all-time low. Most media outlets are biased towards one of the major political parties. In many cases, they contribute to rather than correct misinformation and disinformation. We have too many biased political commentators and not enough fact-based and balanced journalists. Censorship by some social media outlets has also become a big problem.
Pew Research recently issued a survey revealing that “just 20 percent of [American] voters are highly confident the Supreme Court would be politically neutral if it rules on legal issues in [US] 2024 election”.. Why there’s such distrust in the first democracy in the Americas, Dr. Walker, and what’s your position personally on the US electoral security?
Unfortunately, the U.S. political system has become more partisan and ideological in the past twenty-five years. This is especially evident in Presidential and Congressional elections at the federal level. However, it has also impacted judicial nominations to the federal courts, including the Supreme Court. Most Supreme Court decisions are not controversial but others are, especially when they address highly emotional social issues (e.g., abortion rights) and political campaigns (e.g., Bush v. Gore). Some promote expanding the size of the Supreme Court and/or imposing term limits on the Justices. These proposals are not likely to succeed in the near term.
There were election irregularities and violations of law in the 2020 Presidential election. However, I do not believe they were significant enough to change the overall outcome of the election.
I believe several steps have been taken to improve election security since the 2020 elections. The system will never be perfect and continuous improvement efforts are appropriate. From a practical standpoint, the Presidential election in 2024 will come down to the voting results in seven “swing states”. Therefore, the amount of scrutiny in these states will be much greater than in the other states. From a personal standpoint, I have confidence in the ability of the Supreme Court to act in a manner consistent with the Constitution and in a non-partisan and non-personal manner. In my view, that is the way it needs to be.
What features do you like to highlight regarding the last presidential debate promoted by the Free&Equal Elections Foundation that you mediated with Christina Tobin, and how do you think it differentiated, if so, from the debates between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump?
The latest Free&Equal presidential debate was civil and addressed the issues of major concern to American voters. It was future-focused and solutions-oriented. In addition, as moderators, Christina Tobin and I conducted ourselves professionally and neutrally. The major party debates should adopt this approach.
What’s missing to have free and equal elections in the United States and, sure a question many do abroad, what are the groups in America that most oppose and those who favor it, Dr. David Walker?
The United States has had two major political parties for most of its existence. Smaller parties have existed over time but have generally not gained enough support to have a chance to win a Presidential race by gaining at least 270 votes in the Electoral College. For example, Ross Perot ran under the Reform Party banner in 1992. While he garnered 19% of the popular vote, he did not achieve any Electoral votes. Importantly, small party candidates can gain enough support to change the result of an election in a swing state which can change the overall result in the Electoral College. That happened in Florida in the 2020 Presidential election.
The two major parties like to keep things simple and simplistic. They do not support more choice and competition. In 2024, the Democrat Party took a range of steps to oppose significant third-party or independent efforts at the Presidential level. For instance, No Labels potential Unity Ticket effort, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. campaign).
There is a clear need to improve ballot access efforts to increase choice and competition. Other political reforms are needed to make the American political system more representative of and responsive to the general public. These include reforms to the redistricting process, primary systems, term limits, and campaign finance laws.
How do you evaluate Donald Trump’s victory, and what do you expect from his second term?
Former President Donald Trump had one of the biggest political comebacks of all time. He won both the Electoral College and the popular vote. While neither major Presidential candidate emphasized the need to put our federal finances in order during their campaigns, Trump did emphasize the need for a major change in the size and scope of government. He also advocated for extending the “Trump tax cuts” that are scheduled to expire at the end of 2025 while adding some new ones. Time will tell what his actual fiscal priorities will be and what he can get through Congress.
Importantly, the Republicans re-took the Senate which bodes well for confirming Trump’s nominees. However, control of the House has not been determined yet. Major changes will require the support of both houses of the Congress.
Beyond fiscal matters, Trump is likely to move quickly to secure the border, take actions against “sanctuary status” for states and cities, promote more energy production, reduce federal regulation, and deter international aggressors. Many of these actions do not require Congressional actions.
Is there any other thing you’d like to comment on US elections, especially about free and equal elections?
The United States is a great and powerful country but our political system requires reform to increase choice, improve competition, promote compromise, and focus on the future. Too many politicians are focused on today and are mortgaging our future. Free&Equal is a positive force to help make the needed changes a reality.
EM/OT/JRE/SL
Edu Montesanti
Edu Montesanti is a Brazilian-Italian journalist, writer, teacher, and translator. Edu is the author of Lies and Crimes of the "War on Terror" (Brazil, 2012; Mentiras e Crimes da "Guerra ao Terror," original title in Portuguese), highlighted in the 2012 Sao Paulo International Book Fair. He writes for Brazil's Instituto Humanitas Unisinos, Pravda (Portuguese), and Orinoco Tribune. Used to write for Pravda Report (English), the Brazilian magazine Caros Amigos (both printed issues and the website), Brazil TV's website Observatorio da Imprensa, Spain's Diario Liberdade, the Canadian website Global Research (English, Portuguese, and Spanish), Bangladesh's The Weekly Blitz, London's Atlas Institute for International Affairs, for Telesur English, and US's Truth Out and Pressenza. He used to translate for Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo's website (Argentina), the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan's website, and Malalaï Joya's website (Afghanistan). Edu Montesanti has been teaching at Brazilian public schools. You can follow his work at edumontesanti.wordpress.com.
