From the Editor: When the Constitution Becomes Optional, What Are We?

As both parties fracture and the extremes dominate the headlines, voters are left asking whether anyone still believes in the system they were promised.

Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in this article are mine, and mine alone, and do not necessarily reflect the Coffman Chronicle.

Something’s breaking in American politics, but it’s not just the usual gridlock, scandals, or partisan venom. It’s deeper, quieter, harder to measure, but impossible to ignore.

There’s a shift happening beneath the surface noise. People are pulling away. They’re showing up to vote with less faith, or not showing up at all. They're listening to their leaders talk about "saving democracy" while watching those same leaders treat the Constitution like a tool instead of a trust.

It’s in this climate that Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska, quietly admitted something remarkable: she might leave her party.

She didn’t scream it, tweet it in all caps, but the implication was clear: the party she’s known her entire life no longer reflects her values. She’s not alone. Not even close.

That moment, small on its face, feels like a pressure valve being tested. Because what if Murkowski’s discomfort isn’t just personal? What if it’s a symptom of something much bigger?

What if she’s saying what millions of Americans already feel?

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The Fracture No One Wants to Name

Both major political parties are showing signs of internal decay.

The Republican Party, once rooted in institutional conservatism, has become a loyalty test to one man and his agenda. Anyone who breaks ranks risks a primary challenge or worse, political exile. Everything is about extremes, widening wealth gaps, and punishing anyone who doesn’t fit or align.

The Democratic Party, despite being the default option for those fearing the far right, has also shown itself to be equally resistant to renewal. Young activists are sidelined, bold policies are shelved, and the party leadership seems more concerned with procedural blame than with proactive governance. Lately, it has been all excuses about not having the majority and uncanny silence as the world burns.

Both parties reward outrage and inertia over problem-solving, and while they fight for headlines and donor attention, the American public, especially the majority who live in the middle, is left out of the conversation entirely. As they engage in culture wars and strongly worded tweets and letters, who is governing for us?

We’ve reported on the widening gap between the major parties and the people before. See that here:

The Three Branches & the Forgotten Fourth: Why Civics is the Battle for Our Democracy

From the Editor: This Isn’t About Trump and Musk. It’s About Democracy.

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No One Is Listening

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The Constitution: Optional, or Foundational?

Here’s the truth too few want to say out loud: If we can’t agree that we’re still a constitutional democracy, we’re not a country anymore. We’re just a brand.

The Constitution isn’t perfect, but it’s supposed to be our shared floor, a baseline of agreement about how power is distributed, how laws are made, how rights are protected. And yet, both parties have learned to stretch, ignore, or override that framework when it suits them.

Presidents govern by executive memo. Congress avoids hard votes. Courts legislate from the bench. And voters? We’re told to pick a team, cheer harder, and blame the other side when nothing changes.

If the system is only legitimate when your side wins, we are not a democracy. We are a power contest.

And the longer we pretend otherwise, the closer we drift to authoritarianism or fracture entirely.

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The Real Majority Has No Champion

Contrary to the cable news narrative, most Americans aren’t screaming on Twitter. They’re not obsessing over party purity tests. They’re exhausted, disillusioned, and quietly wondering whether the system will ever work for them again.

They care about real things: the price of food, the availability of childcare, whether their vote matters, if their kids will be safe at school, and if Congress is still their voice or just a campaign studio for people already in power.

And here’s the kicker: we actually agree on a lot more than we’re told.

Recent polling shows broad bipartisan support for:

• Expanding child care and early education
  A First Five Years Fund poll found 89% of Americans want candidates to propose solutions—80% of Republicans, 88% of Independents, and 99% of Democrats agree.

• Capping insulin prices
  Data for Progress results show that 88% of likely voters support a $35 cap on insulin, and this support extends across party lines: 84% of Democrats, 77% of Independents, and 78% of Republicans.

• Banning congressional stock trading
  Polling indicates that around 75–86% of Americans (including 86% in swing states) support prohibiting members of Congress (and justices and executives) from trading individually.

• Increasing job training & apprenticeships
  A Jobs for the Future survey shows 84% of voters (88% D / 82% R / 80% I) back expanding apprenticeships and skills-based hiring.

• Strengthening food safety and labeling
  An Axios-Ipsos poll reports that 87% of respondents want stronger food safety measures, such as better labeling and pesticide reduction, with strong bipartisan backing.

• Making Election Day a holiday / early voting / photo ID
  A bipartisan poll by McLaughlin & Freedman shows that 94% of voters agree that both parties should cooperate on national issues, such as job and child care tax credits, and record-high support across party lines for voting access reforms.

• Term limits & congressional ethics reforms
  Public consultation data indicate that 86% of swing-state voters support limits on congressional stock trading and the elimination of related conflicts of interest.

These aren’t fringe ideas. They’re majority opinions that have no institutional champion. And they are just the beginning.

However, both parties have ensured that party loyalty and donors take precedence over truth, compromise, and the will of the people. That’s why third-party candidates must jump through hurdles and be accused of playing the spoiler. All energy is focused on re-election, not governance, party-line votes and messaging, not the people.

They don’t want to represent. They want to rule. They care nothing for voters, only for victory and power. They don’t even want to read the bills, debate the policies, or whip the votes.

See some of our reporting on the abdication of duty here:

When One Man Decides: Trump, Iran, and the Collapse of Congressional Power

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The Way Back: A Common Ground Contract

If we want to reclaim democracy—real democracy, not theater—we need more than new candidates. We need a new compact.

Let’s start with what we agree on, not because it’s easy, but because it’s possible.

Let’s call it a Common Ground Contract, a pledge to return to practical governance, constitutional balance, and honest representation. Not a partisan revolution, but a democratic reformation, one that says: We’ll debate the hard stuff, but first, we fix what’s broken, together.

Let me be clear. I am a flaming, bleeding heart liberal. I want strong progressive policies that protect and serve the people. However, the last decade has made me increasingly believe that we cannot attain that vision until we return to the core tenets of the Constitution and representative democracy. That means getting money out of politics, overturning Citizens United, reclaiming the powers Congress has ceded to the Executive, and holding elected officials accountable to the people.

However, to get there, we must first decide whether we believe in what the Founding Fathers established.

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Who Are We, Really?

If the United States no longer functions as a constitutional democracy, who are we?

If we reward political extremism over practical governance, if we treat the Constitution as optional, and if we let outrage drown out reason, then we are something else entirely, something fragile and dangerous.

But we can choose another path. We can choose sanity, clarity, and a politics that returns to the baseline.

And from there, we can build again.

Bibliography:

• “New Polling on Child Care and the 2024 Election.” First Five Years Fund. May 16, 2024.

• “First 5 Things To Know About: A New Poll Showing Voter Support For Child Care Funding.” First Five Years Fund. July 2023.

• “Voters & Child Care – Candidate Briefing Book.” First Five Years Fund. 2024.

• “100 Days Into New Administration, Survey Reveals Key Opportunities for Elected Officials to Restore Voter Confidence in the Economy.” Jobs for the Future. April 28, 2025.

• “Survey Finds Voters Want Action on Policies to Promote Economic Opportunity within First 100 Days of Next Administration.” Jobs for the Future. October 21, 2024.

• “Ban on Stock Trading for Members of Congress Favored by Overwhelming Bipartisan Majority.” Program for Public Consultation. July 19, 2023.

• “In Six Swing States, Democrats and Republicans Agree Congress, SCOTUS, POTUS, and VP Should Not Trade Stocks.” Voice of the People. August 8, 2024.

• “Survey Finds Bipartisan Majority Support Stock Trading Ban for Members of Congress.” WLBT News. August 1, 2023. Accessed June 2025.

• “Kelly, Ossoff Reintroduce Congressional Stock Trading Ban.” Office of Senator Mark Kelly. May 22, 2025.

• “Bipartisan Push for Early In-Person Voting, Voter ID, Election Day National Holiday.” Pew Research Center. February 7, 2024.

• “ABA Survey Finds Support for Election Holiday, Expanded Polling Hours, Voter IDs.” American Bar Association. April 29, 2022.

• “Axios‑Ipsos Poll: Americans Embracing Food Regulation.” Axios. June 20, 2025.

• “Americans Demand Stronger Government Action On Food Safety.” AOL News. June 2025.

• “Voters Support Capping Insulin Prices at $35 Per Month for All Americans.” Data for Progress. March 24, 2022.

• “The Price of Insulin Is Too High. Voters Support Capping It.” Data for Progress. March 24, 2022.

• “Lisa Murkowski Expresses ‘Openness’ to Becoming Independent.” Politico Pro. June 23, 2025.

• “Murkowski Suggests She Could Become an Independent…” Politico. June 23, 2025.

• “Lisa Murkowski says she might leave the GOP — but ‘absolutely’ won’t join the Democrats.” Vox. January 9, 2021.

• “‘I Want Him Out’: Murkowski First GOP Senator to Call for Trump to Resign.” France24. January 9, 2021.