Strength of the Moderate
47% of Americans are self-described moderates. So what's with all the polarization? Mort Kondracke asks.
I am not quite sure that this is the case of extremists taking hold of the country at least on the presidential level. (on the local level then yes, partisan redistricting has encouraged the rise of extreme candidates) The last Democratic president was Clinton, proponent of the "triangulation" strategy and staunch advocate of DLC politics including welfare reform. Even under our years of Republican rule it was hardly a real right wing conservative agenda. Abortion and assisted suicide (in Oregon) are still legal, government size and national debt have massively increased, and the prospect of nationwide gay unions is a real possibility.
I believe that even with all the rhetoric employed by both sides, with all the focus on single seemingly polarizing issues, the two parties have very similar messages. Our bicameral, non-proportional presidential democracy does not have political parties as ideologically different as many European parliamentary democracies, and this leads to the same basic presidential candidate from the right and the left. There will be no Howard Deans successfully winning the Democratic ticket in 2008, just as their will be no Pat Robertsons or Rick Santorums on the Republican side.
For better or worse the political situation reflects the interests of the American public in the long term. Our political situation is analogous to sailing down a river. We are not arguing the merits of staying on or leaving the river, but rather, what side of the river will allow for the smoothest sailing.
I am not quite sure that this is the case of extremists taking hold of the country at least on the presidential level. (on the local level then yes, partisan redistricting has encouraged the rise of extreme candidates) The last Democratic president was Clinton, proponent of the "triangulation" strategy and staunch advocate of DLC politics including welfare reform. Even under our years of Republican rule it was hardly a real right wing conservative agenda. Abortion and assisted suicide (in Oregon) are still legal, government size and national debt have massively increased, and the prospect of nationwide gay unions is a real possibility.
I believe that even with all the rhetoric employed by both sides, with all the focus on single seemingly polarizing issues, the two parties have very similar messages. Our bicameral, non-proportional presidential democracy does not have political parties as ideologically different as many European parliamentary democracies, and this leads to the same basic presidential candidate from the right and the left. There will be no Howard Deans successfully winning the Democratic ticket in 2008, just as their will be no Pat Robertsons or Rick Santorums on the Republican side.
For better or worse the political situation reflects the interests of the American public in the long term. Our political situation is analogous to sailing down a river. We are not arguing the merits of staying on or leaving the river, but rather, what side of the river will allow for the smoothest sailing.
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