Make no mistake about it: America’s founding fathers believed divided government to be beneficial, even necessary for society and government to function.

The video below, which makes the point, comes partially from West Wing, a television series truly produced by geniuses (it has tremendous academic influence, for instance).

“Partisan politics is good. Partisan politics is what the founders had in mind,” fiction President Jed Bartlett said in the episode features in the video, because “it guarantees that the minority opinion is heard. And as a lifelong possessor of minority opinions I appreciate that.”

Those who produced the pro-divided government video then cut Bartlett off, showing a text that reads: “This episode aired 10/30/02, a few days before the GOP expanded majorities in both Houses of Congress during GWB’s first term.”

“Liberal Democrats justifiably feared their minority voice would not be heared in a single party GOP government,” the text goes on to say.

Next, the video takes a look at what America’s Founding Fathers thought about divided and united government. The message is crystal clear: America was not meant to be ruled by one party merely.

John Adams said, for instance: “Divided we ever have been, and ever must be.” Benjamin Franklin, another highly important early American figure, agreed: “It is not enough that your legislature should be numerous; it should also be divided.”

James Madison, not the least partisan founder of the United States of America is quoted in the video as saying: “Ambition must be made to counteract ambition,” and Thomas Jefferson as: “Divided we stand, united we fall.”

The video than goes on to wonder what an Obama presidency would be like. If Obama wins, would that not mean that America will be ruled by one party, the Democratic Party, for at least two years? Would ‘minority voices’ be heard in such a situation?, the producers wonder. Do American voters truly believe that Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton will not attempt to make the Republican Party irrelevant, and that they could very well succeed in doing so if they have a filibuster-proof majority (which they may have), and that with a, in the words of the video, “Democratic president who has a 97%-toe-the-party-line partisan Democratic voting record?”

It than refers to something fictional President Bartlett said in the short clip about his opponent: he accused him not of bringing the left and right, “but the right and far right together.” The clip makes the logical jump to Obama saying: “Or will an Obama administration just bring the left together with the far left?”, after which it concludes that “single party government has a poor track record,” which is statistically correct.

The video concludes by stating that “Obama vs. McCain is a false choice.” Instead, the real choice is between ‘one-party’ and “divided government.”

Watch it: