What exactly have been the extremist liberal policies in the last three decades - only one that perhaps can be pointed to is Obamacare, even that is a replica of Romney care. On the other hand, tax cuts mainly benefitting the rich, much more restrictive abortion and electoral laws, cowing down to NRA, slowly peeling away the affirmative action rules, gutting environmental and financial rules in the guise of deregulation, holding the supreme court justice seat vacant for a republican president and complete blockade of President Obama's initiatives and waging war on the Clintons - one to wound a sitting president and the other to stop an eminently qualified Hillary Clinton from becoming the first woman president, all the while fostering on us the wreck of Bush 43rd and now DT - these are the conservative victories.
Let it never be forgotten the republicans own, as Dan Rather puts it, this dumpster fire of an administration. They knew in Pres 43 and 45 what they gave the nation and they will be held to account by history for the single minded destruction of everything decent about our country.
Let it never be forgotten the republicans own, as Dan Rather puts it, this dumpster fire of an administration. They knew in Pres 43 and 45 what they gave the nation and they will be held to account by history for the single minded destruction of everything decent about our country.
8
President Trump, through an unprecedented series of unforced errors, has thoroughly undermined his own credibility.
How can vast numbers of Republican politicians themselves retain credibility? They could not even muster the political smarts and energy to strangle Trump's candidacy when it was still in its crib.
Trump is clearly incompetent. The GOP politicians who permitted him to be their standard bearer and president are equally inept.
How can an obstructionist party, "led" by so unfit and unstable a president, transform itself and pivot toward effective governance? Who, other than plutocrats, can possibly look to this pro-plutocracy party as the best hope for the future of our democratic republic?
If GOP pols support and protect President Trump in the belief that he will be their compliant tool and promote their regressive programs, they are self-deluded, and will be judged harshly by historians and the broader swath of the informed citizenry.
If they impeach or otherwise disown President Trump for, they will be "primary torpedoed" by the low-information Fox-News-guzzling Tea-Party tipplers who comprise their most enthusiastic base voters.
Will this minority party self destruct? Or will the GOP's demagogic practices such as gerrymandering and voter suppression assure this disreputable party's survival?
How can vast numbers of Republican politicians themselves retain credibility? They could not even muster the political smarts and energy to strangle Trump's candidacy when it was still in its crib.
Trump is clearly incompetent. The GOP politicians who permitted him to be their standard bearer and president are equally inept.
How can an obstructionist party, "led" by so unfit and unstable a president, transform itself and pivot toward effective governance? Who, other than plutocrats, can possibly look to this pro-plutocracy party as the best hope for the future of our democratic republic?
If GOP pols support and protect President Trump in the belief that he will be their compliant tool and promote their regressive programs, they are self-deluded, and will be judged harshly by historians and the broader swath of the informed citizenry.
If they impeach or otherwise disown President Trump for, they will be "primary torpedoed" by the low-information Fox-News-guzzling Tea-Party tipplers who comprise their most enthusiastic base voters.
Will this minority party self destruct? Or will the GOP's demagogic practices such as gerrymandering and voter suppression assure this disreputable party's survival?
4
My first two votes in 1972 were for George McGovern for President and for the re-election of Clifford Case to the United States Senate. As a New Jersey high-school student concerned about the environment, civil rights and the Vietnam War, Senator Case always answered my letters agreeing with my positions on these issues. I was very conscious of the Republican purge of liberals and moderates as it unfolded. Our country is the worse for it.
3
I have hopes, wish they were high hopes, that a Republican exists who will recognize that this is the moment he will go down in history by leading the Repubs back to being the party whose candidates I used to vote for. What does that Republican have to lose?
7
One thing I believe I have learned in my 66 years as a US citizen is that when you think you have a formulaic understanding of politics you are almost certainly wrong. Politics is not quantum mechanics or relativivity. It is not governed by nearly immutable laws of a political universe. If it were, we would not have President Trump.
5
Do Trump voters have the intelligence to distinguish between what he is saying and what he is doing. For instance if he is for the average working guy than why are there so many millionaires and billionaires in his Cabinet. If he truly wants to get a better health care program why did the CBO rating indicate the 24 million people will lose their insurance, the rich will receive a 800 billion dollar tax cut, and the premiums for seniors will sharply rise. We don't have a Trump problem so much as we have a too many stupid people in this country problem.
11
The right is shrinking, and views of the Republican Party are more negative than those of the Democratic Party. There are a large number of Independents. Young people and minorities are increasingly opposed to the Republican Party and Trump voters skew older, whiter, and less educated.
The conservatives are going to be outnumbered sooner rather than later. Republicans keep losing the popular vote. Trump has record lows on popularity and so does the GOP Congress. Their policies like healthcare and tax breaks for the wealthy are deeply unpopular.
So maybe one more election will go their way but chances are thanks to Trump, Republicans will face a reckoning in 2018. It is now a white supremacist Party and a Know Nothing Party more like the 19th than the 21st century. It needs to die before it harms the country more.
The conservatives are going to be outnumbered sooner rather than later. Republicans keep losing the popular vote. Trump has record lows on popularity and so does the GOP Congress. Their policies like healthcare and tax breaks for the wealthy are deeply unpopular.
So maybe one more election will go their way but chances are thanks to Trump, Republicans will face a reckoning in 2018. It is now a white supremacist Party and a Know Nothing Party more like the 19th than the 21st century. It needs to die before it harms the country more.
11
In my political lifetime (1965 - present) Democrats, the liberals/progressives, not the southerners, have viewed politics as a collegial exercise with expected rational and reasonable debate and discussion between rational and reasonable people.
Republicans, on the other hand, have viewed and practiced politics as a winner-take-all, take-no-prisoners, scorched-earth political/ideological version of war. There can be only one victor and unconditional surrender for the defeated.
That current politics has become reminiscent of that of the mid 19th century should not be unexpected as one of the major political parties has also, in essence and belief, returned to the mid 19th century, albeit with different principles and policies.
Republicans, on the other hand, have viewed and practiced politics as a winner-take-all, take-no-prisoners, scorched-earth political/ideological version of war. There can be only one victor and unconditional surrender for the defeated.
That current politics has become reminiscent of that of the mid 19th century should not be unexpected as one of the major political parties has also, in essence and belief, returned to the mid 19th century, albeit with different principles and policies.
5
The critical difference is that the Republicans don't seem to understand the difference between campaigning and governing, and the ones who set this tone are McConnell and Ryan, who regularly say they're going to pursue policies that are "best for the party." Not the nation, the party.
So here's the advice that ALL elected representatives need to take: Govern for the wellbeing of the nation above all, and vote your conscience! I have a feeling we'd see a lot more centrist, moderate, reasonable policies coming out of Washington.
So here's the advice that ALL elected representatives need to take: Govern for the wellbeing of the nation above all, and vote your conscience! I have a feeling we'd see a lot more centrist, moderate, reasonable policies coming out of Washington.
5
An article specifically on right wing primary challenges, and political polarization within districts, makes only passing mention of a major component of its cause: Gerrymandering?
Not every district has to be gerrymandered for its pernicious effect to be felt. The Tea Party/Freedom Caucus wings of the GOP are only 30-50 members large out of a total GOP contingent of 247. Yet, they have managed to throw sand into the gears of government at every turn. Partly out of fear, by their more moderate colleagues, and partly by abusing minority/majority privileges relevant to a bygone era of political cooperation and compromise.
Proceedurally, the entire GOP House congressional contingent operates out of fear of being 'primaried'--already since the 1990's. This was the reason for the so-called Hastert Rule of GOP legislation, that forbids a floor vote on any legislation that doesn't have majority support of the GOP faction.
Things have only gotten worse.
In 2010, the GOP launched it's Red Map Strategy, the first ever attempt at gerrymandering Congress by packing enough House seats with safe-district members. What that meant was, back home, these new members--most coming from GOP-controlled state legislatures--were busy voting on new district maps, created within weeks of winning their seats, in a blatantly self-serving and undemocratic power grab, to eliminate the opposition altogether.
And they have the nerve to still call this democracy? This is contempt for the voter.
Not every district has to be gerrymandered for its pernicious effect to be felt. The Tea Party/Freedom Caucus wings of the GOP are only 30-50 members large out of a total GOP contingent of 247. Yet, they have managed to throw sand into the gears of government at every turn. Partly out of fear, by their more moderate colleagues, and partly by abusing minority/majority privileges relevant to a bygone era of political cooperation and compromise.
Proceedurally, the entire GOP House congressional contingent operates out of fear of being 'primaried'--already since the 1990's. This was the reason for the so-called Hastert Rule of GOP legislation, that forbids a floor vote on any legislation that doesn't have majority support of the GOP faction.
Things have only gotten worse.
In 2010, the GOP launched it's Red Map Strategy, the first ever attempt at gerrymandering Congress by packing enough House seats with safe-district members. What that meant was, back home, these new members--most coming from GOP-controlled state legislatures--were busy voting on new district maps, created within weeks of winning their seats, in a blatantly self-serving and undemocratic power grab, to eliminate the opposition altogether.
And they have the nerve to still call this democracy? This is contempt for the voter.
5
The Republicans made this bed for themselves with their hyper-partisan gerrymandering of Congressional districts. In an effort to protect themselves from the Democrats, they left themselves vulnerable to their own extreme right. The best thing that could happen for this country would be for the Supreme Court, once and for all, to hold gerrymandering for political purposes unconstitutional.
4
If the various investigations turn up Russian interference in the election, it should invalidate not only President Trump, but Republicans Mike Pence and all of Trump's picks for cabinet positions and the Supreme Court appointment. Reason indeed to be looking over their shoulders.
4
While Mr. Trump's key base seems to be incredibly loyal to him, in spite of
media releases as to his culpability to a multitude of offences, there are a vast number of moderates and independents who are livid with each news break.
Unless the Republicans in Congress take heed with their problem with Mr. Trump, the wave in the mid-terms will be overwhelming.
media releases as to his culpability to a multitude of offences, there are a vast number of moderates and independents who are livid with each news break.
Unless the Republicans in Congress take heed with their problem with Mr. Trump, the wave in the mid-terms will be overwhelming.
3
LOL! If you took a poll of Independents and asked them how we feel that these extremists on both sides, you would probably get just as negative feelings as Democrats have for Republicans and visa-versa.
These extremists are the ones destroying the country.
These extremists are the ones destroying the country.
The problems on the Right are all the "Loyalty Oaths" they have taken to extremist and unbending and uncompromising organizations and individuals - like Trump, Koch brothers, NRA, Grover Nordquist, Tea Party, Fossil Fuel industry, Citizens United, Freedom Caucus, Evangelicals, Anti-Abortion ...
They have to watch out for those looking over their shoulders ensuring compliance with their loyalty oaths.
Their loyalty oath to the nation and the U.S. Constitution has been long superseded by these individuals and groups that they are stuck in the muck of their own oaths.
They have to watch out for those looking over their shoulders ensuring compliance with their loyalty oaths.
Their loyalty oath to the nation and the U.S. Constitution has been long superseded by these individuals and groups that they are stuck in the muck of their own oaths.
13
It's disappointing that Edsall doesn't go into the reasons behind this great partisan divide: massive funding by wealthy parties with the plain intent of demonizing and deligitimizing the Democratic party.
The GOP has been frighteningly disciplined and successful in their efforts. The result is the jaw-dropping election of the blatantly ill-equipped and incompetent Donald Trump. He is a feature of what the Republican party has become, not a bug. He is not something outside of the trajectory they have created.
The GOP has been frighteningly disciplined and successful in their efforts. The result is the jaw-dropping election of the blatantly ill-equipped and incompetent Donald Trump. He is a feature of what the Republican party has become, not a bug. He is not something outside of the trajectory they have created.
17
The divide is over abortion. Without the abortion issue, the Republican Party would disappear into history.
2
Yes, America is more polarized culturally and politically than at any time since the Civil War. The causes of this increasing polarization are numerous and intertwined to the point where it's hard to determine what is "cause" and what is "effect" anymore.
So it might help to take a bird's-eye view of this entire Culture War which has been raging since the the Sixties (which is where it all started). The stratified, stagnant, repressive and conformist society of the 1950s (The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit) gave way to "liberation movements" of every stripe (racial, gender, religious, multi-ethnic and "alternate lifestyle").
And the Old Guard (patriarchal, conservative whites) saw The Future - and it scared them witless. They had been the unchallenged and despotic rulers of American society for 200 years - and the freedom and power seized by "the Others" to grab an equal slice of the American Dream was seen as a direct assault on their power and privilege.
Fifty years later, that's the limbic divide which tears American society asunder. Half the country believes in an inclusive society with equal opportunity for all, the other half (mostly white and blue collar) still clings to the fantasy that if they demonize their former "inferiors" viciously enough, they can forcibly return America to the 1950s again.
That's the Ur-message of Fox News: "Follow us back to the 50s" - when straight, white, conservative Christian men ran everything and all "the Others" knew their place.
So it might help to take a bird's-eye view of this entire Culture War which has been raging since the the Sixties (which is where it all started). The stratified, stagnant, repressive and conformist society of the 1950s (The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit) gave way to "liberation movements" of every stripe (racial, gender, religious, multi-ethnic and "alternate lifestyle").
And the Old Guard (patriarchal, conservative whites) saw The Future - and it scared them witless. They had been the unchallenged and despotic rulers of American society for 200 years - and the freedom and power seized by "the Others" to grab an equal slice of the American Dream was seen as a direct assault on their power and privilege.
Fifty years later, that's the limbic divide which tears American society asunder. Half the country believes in an inclusive society with equal opportunity for all, the other half (mostly white and blue collar) still clings to the fantasy that if they demonize their former "inferiors" viciously enough, they can forcibly return America to the 1950s again.
That's the Ur-message of Fox News: "Follow us back to the 50s" - when straight, white, conservative Christian men ran everything and all "the Others" knew their place.
14
Republicans today are cowards. To be re-elected, they act prepared to lose their country. There is no defense for this kind of self-serving representation.
Is it time to divide the United States? Let the Republicans try to support their voters. Most of the money for federal programs in Republican states - welfare, Medicaid, veteran benefits, insurance and Social Security - comes from non-Republican states. Where's the justice? Oh, yes, I remember. That's compromised as well.
Is it time to divide the United States? Let the Republicans try to support their voters. Most of the money for federal programs in Republican states - welfare, Medicaid, veteran benefits, insurance and Social Security - comes from non-Republican states. Where's the justice? Oh, yes, I remember. That's compromised as well.
8
It appears that gangs of political thugs with an extremist ideology are forcing the majority of Republicans, who are perhaps more moderate, to fall in line, taking away a choice at the primary level. There is no way a center-left would consider voting for someone that takes an extreme position where no compromise or deal can be made - but they may consider voting for someone in the center-right.
As history has shown, recklessly extremist points of view never end well.
As history has shown, recklessly extremist points of view never end well.
6
By definition, extremists do not represent the majority - only the marginalized. They divide and then co-opt one side to do their bidding effectively trashing it for most.
1
I feel like Republicans are graded on a curve. If they vote against taking healthcare away from millions, or they voice even a mild displeasure with Trump's actions, we give them an A+ and laud praise on them for their courageous actions. It's like praising a naughty child for not throwing a temper tantrum. Meanwhile, Democrats are consistently expected to be the adults in the room.
10
When you have a large group of voters who are more than happy to vote against their own self interest in order to advance ideology related to or stemming from their personal religious beliefs, you can see how the GOP has a much easier time engaging their base. Democrats should move away from identity politics, they are divisive by nature and micro in scale. Find the macro issues. You want to sway the most amount of people to your side, start talking money and how to put more of it in their wallets.
8
When I hear that the extreme right wing of the Republican Party have taken over the agenda and compromise be damned... this sounds like Isis, this sounds like the Taliban. Are Christian Conservatives America's version of the Taliban? As Dorothy Parker says "What fresh hell is this?"
I understand that Republicans and Democrats don't spend time together outside of the legislature; they go home to their districts on the weekend or spend time with their own party members. There was a time when they(Democrats and Republicans) lived near each other in Washington and their family members smoozed at their children's sports events, lunched or dined together so they realized they were both human and could talk to each other. Where did that go? Again what fresh hell is this?
I understand that Republicans and Democrats don't spend time together outside of the legislature; they go home to their districts on the weekend or spend time with their own party members. There was a time when they(Democrats and Republicans) lived near each other in Washington and their family members smoozed at their children's sports events, lunched or dined together so they realized they were both human and could talk to each other. Where did that go? Again what fresh hell is this?
7
Joseph McCarthy successfully bullied everyone in his path until one man, Joseph Welch, called him out during the 1954 Army-McCarthy hearings, and then McCarthy deflated like a punctured balloon. Perhaps if Congressional Republicans had real leaders they could break away from their self-reinforcing quandary in which pandering to Trump and right wing reactionaries is seen as the safe course.
7
Welcome to the new Republic: the United States of Entropy. In this new nation nothing will get accomplished -ever - The roles of the House and the Senate are to sit in chambers and nod solemnly
1
Over and over I find the analysis of Republicans missing the most essential item, the growing control of the party by Christian Conservatives. If ever there was a group with no wiggle room around ideology, this is them. The more power they bring to the table, the more Republicans move to the right. Part of that reason is that Christian Conservatives have made unholy alliances with HUGE money interests, we will support your tax cuts in return for complete support for the rights of religion over the rest of society.
7
"Why are the Republicans always looking over their shoulders?" For the same reason crooks and criminals do.
12
and they cannot look you straight in the eye
"Republicans hate the Democratic Party so much and Democrats hate the Republican Party so much that they do not view the other side as a viable option." Wow, strong words to use, especially hate. I've been a voting Democrat all of my life and have never voted Republican as I don't believe in most of the policies, but I don't hate them. I hate their actions or lack thereof, but as for the party as a whole, I give them props for being masterful with marketing and "spin" because of their use of Freud's defense mechanism of projection of their faults and fears onto Democrats, and my party always "goes high when they go low," much to our detriment. What a sad state of affairs to have reached a point once again in our country's history where we have such a stark divide between us. This time, however, it's not North and South, but Red and Blue States. I hope to God we don't end up in another civil war.
Hmm . . . all these thinking American "conservatives" . . . actually revanchists and reactionaries . . . How did they slowly come to coalesce their minds around the dangers to the nation of freed slaves and liberated women (who could actually earn some money for the household)? Should we, say, . . . "follow the money?"
4
The solution to all of this is making gerrymandering illegal and having a non-partisan algorithm define all of the districts. The second is to bring back a modern version of the Fairness Doctrine (which Reagan removed), making it impossible for the propagandists to flourish. Finally, the antiquated Electoral College which no longer serves its original purpose, must be disbanded.
Great column Mr. Edsall which details exactly how we got into this horrific mess.
Great column Mr. Edsall which details exactly how we got into this horrific mess.
11
I split my ticket for years, u till Republicans in Congress, and increasingly in state legislatures, began block voting on everything. I would vote for a moderate Republican, but then he would vote IN CONGRESS like the worst kind of right-wing ideologue because the Republican Party demanded it.
I remember finally telling my Republican Senator, whom I liked personally and had supported for years, that when HE could no longer be bipartisan in HIS voting, neither could I. We both lamented the problem. Ironically, he was knocked out of the primary in his next election, so the glum prospect of having to vote against someone I knew an trusted never happened. And I'll note he was primaried after having acquiesced at last to the Party line - they had been after him too long to resist going after him. FWIW! The Democratic candidate won the seat.
If Congress will go back to bipartisanship, I will go back to splitting my ticket. But as long as a vote for ANY Republican is a vote for Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan, I can't do it.
I remember finally telling my Republican Senator, whom I liked personally and had supported for years, that when HE could no longer be bipartisan in HIS voting, neither could I. We both lamented the problem. Ironically, he was knocked out of the primary in his next election, so the glum prospect of having to vote against someone I knew an trusted never happened. And I'll note he was primaried after having acquiesced at last to the Party line - they had been after him too long to resist going after him. FWIW! The Democratic candidate won the seat.
If Congress will go back to bipartisanship, I will go back to splitting my ticket. But as long as a vote for ANY Republican is a vote for Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan, I can't do it.
8
When Trump says things like "the people understand what I'm doing," he reminds me of a Hugo Chavez or a Rodrigo Duterte.
4
If the problem is that both parties are paralyzed and cannot "afford" to work together, then the solution is just as obvious: BOTH parties must go.
WE, the People, in order to form a more perfect union, must form new parties.
When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve theolitical bands which have connected them with the existing political parties, they must abolish those political parties. Moreover, a decent respect to the opinions of humankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
I so declare: Our political parties have become moribund. As their members sit like molding in Congress, the rot infests our government so that we are left with an economy that does not work and a political system that does not work.
We need good government. We need new political parties.
WE, the People, in order to form a more perfect union, must form new parties.
When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve theolitical bands which have connected them with the existing political parties, they must abolish those political parties. Moreover, a decent respect to the opinions of humankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
I so declare: Our political parties have become moribund. As their members sit like molding in Congress, the rot infests our government so that we are left with an economy that does not work and a political system that does not work.
We need good government. We need new political parties.
1
Paranoia is part of the Republican mind set.
Republicans I know are very suspicious by nature.
Republicans I know are very suspicious by nature.
11
And, fearful . . .
What we need are Democrats who can sell, as Trump sells himself. Democrats offer real benefits to most of Trump's followers while Republicans do not, but those Trump followers don't know that, and that's the fault of the Democratic party and Democratic politicians.
13
Most interesting article I've read in a long time. Claim in the story that really struck me, "For Republicans, safe districts — where the potential threat to an incumbent is in the primary and not in the general election — rose from 136 in 1992 to 191 in 2012. For Democrats, the number of safe districts grew from 111 in 1992 to 156 in 2012."
Both parties are using gerrymandering to get ahead. The Republicans are just better at it.
Both parties are using gerrymandering to get ahead. The Republicans are just better at it.
7
The overwhelming traditional conservative opposition to nominee Trump and the extinction of the "Moral Majoroty" righteousness further illustrates that our political discourse suffers from misleading and inadequate descriptive words for our current political factions. (Remember when President Ronald Reagan calling a nuclear missile "the peacemaker"?)
The "de jure" Republican Party is, in fact, the "de facto" Neo-Confederate Party, formed by a critical mass of former racist "Dixie-crats"; augmented by uncompromising one-issue constiuencies (anti-abortionists, anti-gun control asvocates, anti-sexual rights); and strengthened by lingering Vietnam War patriotism and by an anti-immigration attitude.
The Democratic Party is currently controlled by moderate Republicans ("Neo-LLiberals) purged from the old Republican Party (the so-called "limousine liberals") These Neo-Liberals supplanted the working-class, labor democrats and generated the presidencies of Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. The progressive movement is now attempting to take back the Democratic Party and restore the Franklin Roosevelt legacy. The republican opposition portrays the Democratic Party as the Liberal Federalist Union Party. ironically, a label with which Abraham Lincoln would feel comfortable in describing the Republican Party of his day.
The "de jure" Republican Party is, in fact, the "de facto" Neo-Confederate Party, formed by a critical mass of former racist "Dixie-crats"; augmented by uncompromising one-issue constiuencies (anti-abortionists, anti-gun control asvocates, anti-sexual rights); and strengthened by lingering Vietnam War patriotism and by an anti-immigration attitude.
The Democratic Party is currently controlled by moderate Republicans ("Neo-LLiberals) purged from the old Republican Party (the so-called "limousine liberals") These Neo-Liberals supplanted the working-class, labor democrats and generated the presidencies of Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. The progressive movement is now attempting to take back the Democratic Party and restore the Franklin Roosevelt legacy. The republican opposition portrays the Democratic Party as the Liberal Federalist Union Party. ironically, a label with which Abraham Lincoln would feel comfortable in describing the Republican Party of his day.
6
For over 100 years, this country had two dominant political parties each with three "wings": left, centrist, and right. For a political party to have such internal ideological diversity is very unusual. Look around the world at other democracies; the parties tend to be relatively ideologically cohesive. Yes, there can be center-left and center-right parties, but none with the wide range of views that our parties used to have.
What accounts for this odd situation we had for so long? The primary reason lies in the aftereffects of the Civil War and Reconstruction. The Republican Party was, for a long time, the party of Lincoln, the party that "won the war" and had its greatest strength in the North. The Democratic Party was, among other things, the party of the South. White southerners with bitter memories of the war wouldn't consider voting for a Republican in the late 19th century.
Both parties developed their respective regional variations. The GOP was in some areas the party of the well-off, and the Democrats (especially in the north) were the party of immigrants. Party policies varied from region to region. The Georgia Democratic party of a few decades ago had its conservative, centrist, and progressive wings, while Republicans hardly existed.
This could not last forever, and the parties began the inevitable ideological shaking-out in the wake of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The only question is whether we will continue with 2 parties, or 3 (the 3rd being centrist).
What accounts for this odd situation we had for so long? The primary reason lies in the aftereffects of the Civil War and Reconstruction. The Republican Party was, for a long time, the party of Lincoln, the party that "won the war" and had its greatest strength in the North. The Democratic Party was, among other things, the party of the South. White southerners with bitter memories of the war wouldn't consider voting for a Republican in the late 19th century.
Both parties developed their respective regional variations. The GOP was in some areas the party of the well-off, and the Democrats (especially in the north) were the party of immigrants. Party policies varied from region to region. The Georgia Democratic party of a few decades ago had its conservative, centrist, and progressive wings, while Republicans hardly existed.
This could not last forever, and the parties began the inevitable ideological shaking-out in the wake of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The only question is whether we will continue with 2 parties, or 3 (the 3rd being centrist).
3
GOP has no one to blame but themselves with their gerrymandering.
10
Much of this is framed in terms of false equivalencies. Yes, demands are made of both Democrats and Republicans. But in only one of them do these require a vast suspension of critical faculties and common sense. Democrats on the edge might excuse Sen. Sanders' membership in a Trotskyite organization, while fringe Republicans might believe Secretary Clinton employed death squads.
This essay needs to think through the differences rather than take the easy 'fie on both your houses' approach.
This essay needs to think through the differences rather than take the easy 'fie on both your houses' approach.
10
I agree with you that false equivalency in this article and hundreds of others is awful. It's easy but morally disingenuous to cast a broad net and say both parties are equally culpable. A Trump-type could never rise in the Democratic party because those on the left judge candidates based on their ideas rather than blind loyalty to party.
The legions of Trump voters may not be as large a part of current Republicans as they fear. Consider that in a crowded Republican primary field Trump was never winning more than 30-40% of Republican votes. When offered other choices, even other odious and toxic choices, a majority of Republicans motivated enough to vote in a primary chose other choices. While Trump prevailed by carrying a solid core of Republicans, it was never more than a minority of a minority of voters overall. The popular vote reflects this more accurately - Trump's support amounts to a minority of a minority, less than 30% of all voters, unless they are left no other Republican choices at all...
7
Readers in the polling community, take the above comment as a challenge. How many 'Trump Forever' voters are there, anyway? Intuitively, tend to believe this is not really a belief but a normative stance in much of Red America, an attitude or mindset you hold mainly to fit in and get along. Kind of like Upper West Side soirees where you talk about the class struggle.
3
There is real stuff at stake here: Healthcare for millions; climate for the billions; economic growth, national security.
And there is real enmity.
Since the other side can not be vanquished, maybe the enmity is the real enemy. Maybe we can get back to a point where it is ok to disagree about mere politics.
And there is real enmity.
Since the other side can not be vanquished, maybe the enmity is the real enemy. Maybe we can get back to a point where it is ok to disagree about mere politics.
8
The modern GOP is an entirely different political party from the old GOP. They are what Henry Wallace calls "corporate fascists". The type of Republican that is doing so much damage to our country now.
Henry S. Wallace's op-ed piece in the NYT about his grandfather's 1944 essay on potential fascism in America rang true. Set out in detail, 77 years ago, was our modern GOP! He explained the anti-tax crowd and helped me understand, clearly, what has happened in our country.
I am not being hyperbolic when I say the entire GOP has been infected with this brand of fascism, to one degree or another! The Grover Norquist oaths, the marching in lockstep maneuvers, their scapegoats, the loyalty of ideology and party over country, the party owned media outlets.
It is all there; there is nothing missing! Even the abuse and arrests of journalists fit this paradigm! Which leads me to Rupert Murdoch's media efforts and the First Amendment.
Did the U.S. allow pro-axis propaganda outlets to operate within the country during WW2? The right-wing hate media have, and continue to, jeopardize the safety of this country's citizens and even its continued existence. This feels like an attack on our country's existence.
Here is the link to the article itself:
https://nyti.ms/2q87o13
Henry S. Wallace's op-ed piece in the NYT about his grandfather's 1944 essay on potential fascism in America rang true. Set out in detail, 77 years ago, was our modern GOP! He explained the anti-tax crowd and helped me understand, clearly, what has happened in our country.
I am not being hyperbolic when I say the entire GOP has been infected with this brand of fascism, to one degree or another! The Grover Norquist oaths, the marching in lockstep maneuvers, their scapegoats, the loyalty of ideology and party over country, the party owned media outlets.
It is all there; there is nothing missing! Even the abuse and arrests of journalists fit this paradigm! Which leads me to Rupert Murdoch's media efforts and the First Amendment.
Did the U.S. allow pro-axis propaganda outlets to operate within the country during WW2? The right-wing hate media have, and continue to, jeopardize the safety of this country's citizens and even its continued existence. This feels like an attack on our country's existence.
Here is the link to the article itself:
https://nyti.ms/2q87o13
19
We are engaged in a cold uncivil war. I fear it does not bode well for the Republic.
6
In viewing this from Canada I think you have reached the end of the 2 party solution.
I was never sure how you could house 330 million people under one roof. Every other democracy on the planet has 3, 4 or more parties and the ruling party rules through a coalition. This means that compromise is built into to solution and one party does not spend its first year undoing the legislation the other party put in when it controlled government.
What America has is to almost warring factions who rule by lying to the electorate and serve very few of the populace. Serving mostly money, the money they need to get elected.
The goal seems to be for the GOP especially is to be bought and paid for by a billionaire and all your re-elections are reassured. They don't just go cap in hand but a tote bag and move right into the billionaire lifestyle. Even OBama said he had to step back from the donator class to see "we the people". The problem being not all representatives see the need to give any more than lip service to the Average American in the form of lies and more lies. (Like replace the ACA with AHCA which is actually a replacement of health insurance with a huge tax break for the wealthiest and no insurance for the rest.)
Trump is a sign that all is not well in this country when a large number of its citizens believe the devil is better than those Dems.
Well how does that look now? Trump is what he projected on others, unstable, unsuited, dangerous, raging, liar.
I was never sure how you could house 330 million people under one roof. Every other democracy on the planet has 3, 4 or more parties and the ruling party rules through a coalition. This means that compromise is built into to solution and one party does not spend its first year undoing the legislation the other party put in when it controlled government.
What America has is to almost warring factions who rule by lying to the electorate and serve very few of the populace. Serving mostly money, the money they need to get elected.
The goal seems to be for the GOP especially is to be bought and paid for by a billionaire and all your re-elections are reassured. They don't just go cap in hand but a tote bag and move right into the billionaire lifestyle. Even OBama said he had to step back from the donator class to see "we the people". The problem being not all representatives see the need to give any more than lip service to the Average American in the form of lies and more lies. (Like replace the ACA with AHCA which is actually a replacement of health insurance with a huge tax break for the wealthiest and no insurance for the rest.)
Trump is a sign that all is not well in this country when a large number of its citizens believe the devil is better than those Dems.
Well how does that look now? Trump is what he projected on others, unstable, unsuited, dangerous, raging, liar.
16
REPLY TO PICK ANANT VASHI : You write "it is great to be pro-choice, pro gay rights, pro minority rights, pro-gender equity, but these "fringe" interests should not dominate the Democrat messaging."
Spoken like a privileged man indeed. So many today are pro gender, pro-choice, pro-minority, etc. I fail to see how these are "fringe" issues. They ARE the issues: do we live in an equal and just society or not is the salient question of the day. Do we included all or some. The R's want it white Christian male now and forever.
Their victory has come by convincing white lower/middle class that racial minorities are stealing the gov't blind and so they agree to vote against their interests in a way that we all get nothing. Better we all get nothing than "they" get something and I get nothing is their thinking. The R's have pitted us against each other and it has worked.
Spoken like a privileged man indeed. So many today are pro gender, pro-choice, pro-minority, etc. I fail to see how these are "fringe" issues. They ARE the issues: do we live in an equal and just society or not is the salient question of the day. Do we included all or some. The R's want it white Christian male now and forever.
Their victory has come by convincing white lower/middle class that racial minorities are stealing the gov't blind and so they agree to vote against their interests in a way that we all get nothing. Better we all get nothing than "they" get something and I get nothing is their thinking. The R's have pitted us against each other and it has worked.
9
I think the point is that while Dems worry and campaign continuously about identity politics they lose a large number of economically disadvantaged voters (our original base) who often wish they had the economic means to worry about "side" issues. I'm not in total agreement with equating identity politics with side issues but it sure is a quick way to lose an election. Dems seem ignorant on which wars to wage at what point in time. LGBT issues are important but not as important as the fact that a very large cross section of Americans are living at the poverty line and many of those are hooked to opiods. The phrase that comes to mind is "we only deal with the moral issues we can afford". Sad but true.
3
When AG Sessions gets through making sure all those with drug problems get jail time rather than treatment there will be a lot more children living below the poverty line. Don't you love those "Christian" "pro-life" values?
4
Sadly true. Take just one of them, people who've moved into this country without permission. (Seems we could use a word for that.)
Yes, we need the labor. True, we've told them for 70 years it's okay, despite the border laws. And the vast majority are just fine as decent, hard-working, law-abiding (except for immigration status), decent neighbors.
But you will hardly ever hear a Democrat say some don't belong. In fact it's hard to distinguish the official party stance as anything besides a complete capitulation of border enforcement.
Yes, we need the labor. True, we've told them for 70 years it's okay, despite the border laws. And the vast majority are just fine as decent, hard-working, law-abiding (except for immigration status), decent neighbors.
But you will hardly ever hear a Democrat say some don't belong. In fact it's hard to distinguish the official party stance as anything besides a complete capitulation of border enforcement.
1
When I told my kids that I had voted for Republican candidates they were incredulous, When I told them that these votes were for the markedly more progressive candidate in the race, they were dumbfounded.
7
Donald Trump has forced the Grand Old Party's collective heads into a dirty toilet and flushed it and their leadership coils together like a family of vipers. We deserve better. We deserve a participatory democracy. The operative word being, "participatory."
6
"Which choice poses the greater risk for Republicans in Congress..."
It depends how small the scope of your mind is. If all you care about is your Congressional seat, the answer will seem a lot different than if you care about right and wrong and the real dangers to this country.
Or am I being too old-fashioned to think that we are still a nation of laws rather than of parties?
It depends how small the scope of your mind is. If all you care about is your Congressional seat, the answer will seem a lot different than if you care about right and wrong and the real dangers to this country.
Or am I being too old-fashioned to think that we are still a nation of laws rather than of parties?
3
If the 50% of eligible voters who stay home went to the polling booth everything would be different. The Republicans know that.
9
Curious, has there been a study between the replies from the public and their source of news? Since the rise of Fox News, I believe that most of the people are forming their opinions based on the fallacies spewed out by Fox.
12
A lot of people are forming their opinions based on the fallacies spewed out by The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, CBS, SNL, Hollywood, late night "comedians" and so on.
The only late-night comedian is the president.
9
There was a study in the last couple of years that showed Fox News watchers scored the lowest in knowledge of current events.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2016/07/21/a-rigorous-scientific-look...
https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2016/07/21/a-rigorous-scientific-look...
Democrats! Progressives! We have to learn from our missteps. Do not lose control of the narrative, do not allow Faux News to hypnotize vast swaths of the electorate while we debate among ourselves issues of cultural fairness. We Need A Louder Voice. We need a strong strategy. We Need To Frame The Narrative. From The Beginning, Stupid!
6
Poor republicans, poor trump -victims of their own choices.
8
In the collective reactionary mind the Democrats took up the Red Man's burden, i.e. the fall of the Soviet Union took away the demonic opponent that Hofstadter refers to in the The Paranoid Style of American Politics; and that style demanded a replacement. Democrats and liberals ceased to be opponents and instead became enemies.Note the timeline, Gingrich following Gorbachev as night follows day.
And speaking of long strange roads, Edsall notes that in 1974 only 45 percent of Republicans identified themselves as conservatives. Presumably the other 55 percent considered themselves to be liberals, something that evidently was permissible then unlike now.
And speaking of long strange roads, Edsall notes that in 1974 only 45 percent of Republicans identified themselves as conservatives. Presumably the other 55 percent considered themselves to be liberals, something that evidently was permissible then unlike now.
3
Or at least middle of the roaders.
1
The basic problem of the GOP is that it stands for nothing useful and has made a joke of the word "conservatism." The GOP stands for two things and two things only: cutting taxes on the rich (the top 1%) and cutting benefits for everyone else. Since these are extraordinarily cheap goals, the GOP has to lie and cover itself constantly.
27
"These trends include growing ideological consistency in the electorate, geographic sorting, gerrymandered districts, the perception of partisan opponents as mortal enemies and the emotional intensity underpinning issues of race and sex."
*******
One thing left out is the questioning of how religion should figure in public life. Many of Trump's most avid supporters are also strongly tied to their religious belief and their desire to impose their religious restrictions on culture and institutions.
*******
One thing left out is the questioning of how religion should figure in public life. Many of Trump's most avid supporters are also strongly tied to their religious belief and their desire to impose their religious restrictions on culture and institutions.
14
It's not there yet, but the hate ginned up by the Republican alternative reality propaganda machine will turn against Trumpski as it did against the Republicans. Republican hate depends on the ignorance of the Trumpsters, but this ignorance cannot last because hate, like all emotions, cannot be sustained. The Trumpsters will find that if you argue with reality, Reality always wins.
When the hate wanes, these delusional Trumpsters will slowly come to their senses and realize they've been duped by a master con-man. Then, their hate will again arise and be aimed at the nearest, simplest, easiest target - Trumpski. The Progressives and Democrats, who have done the spade work, will pile on accelerating the tipping point over its cascade.
The resulting tidal wave will sweep the Republicans away forever, along with any non-Progressive Democrat. After the Purge, the black cloud of fear and hate will dissipate and we'll become one happy forward leaning Progressive family with new confidence, hope, and strength. All will be as it should be.
When the hate wanes, these delusional Trumpsters will slowly come to their senses and realize they've been duped by a master con-man. Then, their hate will again arise and be aimed at the nearest, simplest, easiest target - Trumpski. The Progressives and Democrats, who have done the spade work, will pile on accelerating the tipping point over its cascade.
The resulting tidal wave will sweep the Republicans away forever, along with any non-Progressive Democrat. After the Purge, the black cloud of fear and hate will dissipate and we'll become one happy forward leaning Progressive family with new confidence, hope, and strength. All will be as it should be.
3
Your fairy tale is only missing the fairy god-mother.
3
Speaking of Reality, Fourteen. Try a small slice of it sometime. For example, Hillary did not win the election.
1
I am tired of this constant incantation that the problem with our current politics is the proclivity of partisans to see their opponents as "mortal enemies." Perhaps the problem is the opponents and their politicians, people willing to support a Federal budget gutting programs beneficial to low to moderate income citizens and endanger their health and welfare, to take away a woman's right to choose and force women into unsafe abortions, to deny the inevitability of climate change and imperil the planet .... Maybe, just maybe, the stakes are a little higher now than in the past, and it is simply correct to see them as mortal enemies.
16
Missing from all of this is any recognition of the positions the parties actually hold: we've got a centrist Democratic Party and a far-right Republican Party, with no real left to speak of, just a few Bernie Sanders types.
So the Republicans, on a steady diet of FoxNews, really are horrified by the sober, reasonable policy put forward by Democrats, and the Democrats, on a steady diet of facts, really are horrified by the insane conspiracy theories Republicans float with a "policy" label attached. But presenting those two things as equivalent is deeply misleading.
So the Republicans, on a steady diet of FoxNews, really are horrified by the sober, reasonable policy put forward by Democrats, and the Democrats, on a steady diet of facts, really are horrified by the insane conspiracy theories Republicans float with a "policy" label attached. But presenting those two things as equivalent is deeply misleading.
19
Abortion, religion and racism. I will never vote R again.
12
You left out how wide the gap is between those who would have no restrictions on gun ownership and those who will settle for restrictions that say who and where and how guns can be purchased.
5
The GOP are absolute masters at marketing their brand. They use every trick available to first sell and then perpetuate that brand even though it sooner or later goes against the very self-interests of most of those who voted for them. The Democrats response to this deviousness is limp at best, even though the Dems have delivered policies time and time again that do more for most GOP voters than the destructive policies of the party they pulled the lever for. The GOP goes for the gut, the Dems for he head. What we need is an institution that goes for the HEART-a true meeting place for all of us.
62
Russia, Putin, are winning their cyber warfare populism campaigns both in the USA and in Europe..and Russia's biggest ally in promoting this chasm is Fox News!
7
The minority of Americans susceptible to extremist Conservative propaganda are being brainwashed, thanks to Citizen's United.
Citizen's United and ALEC are rotting our democracy from within.
Citizen's United and ALEC are rotting our democracy from within.
15
And what too many ordinary Americans fail to realize is that all those Citizen's United and ALEC supporting billionaires and centimillionaires have gobs of money stashed outside of the US and international second and third homes. When they get through bleeding this country, they will be happily living elsewhere.
1
I must say that any analysis of American politics today that largely ignores racism as the most pervasive division to national unity is incomplete. Uniformity is not unity; America can only be represented by unity in diversity.
12
The interviews with Trump supporters in this newspaper were illuminating. For example, the notion that the white working class is a homogeneous group that lives, thinks, and votes the same is clearly not correct. Republicans make gains when we all think of this group as a homogeneous block. Perhaps Democrats could make inroads by segmenting this group into its constituent parts?
For example, when I think of working class I think of an individual who possesses skill, knowledge, and expertise. One subset of the people interviewed here, however, had almost no skills, knowledge, or expertise, and did well only, for instance, because they were white and male, or because we were in a booming (bubble) economy.
For example, when I think of working class I think of an individual who possesses skill, knowledge, and expertise. One subset of the people interviewed here, however, had almost no skills, knowledge, or expertise, and did well only, for instance, because they were white and male, or because we were in a booming (bubble) economy.
6
As usual, a well-researched, if depressing report by Mr. Edsall. Thank you. When Republicans in Congress used to be more conciliatory and work with Democrats -- think Bob Michel, Hugh Scott, John Rhodes, Howard Baker, Democrats won and won and won and won, controlling Congress most of the time for over half a century, forcing Republican presidents to compromise. When they turned nasty and divisive, assumed a "take no prisoners" attitude towards legislation proposed by Democratic presidents, gerrymandered districts across the nation more effectively than even Philip Burton used to in California, they started to win and have continued to do so, forcing Democratic presidents to compromise and giving Republican presidents what they want, particularly in the matters of tax cuts, defense spending and deregulation. In general, the more extreme rightwing positions Republicans have taken, the better they have done in Congress. If voters want moderation and compromise, they should vote in moderates of both parties before they go completely extinct. That involves nuanced reasoning and choosing. It's so much easier to choose between "good and evil".
4
Don't discount the effect of the toxic partisan language of the far right. Gingrich started it with his pamphlet: Language, a Key Mechanism of Control, which is required reading for understanding today's political climate. Then you have Fox News, which is a republican propaganda machine that doesn't demobilize between elections.
14
They need to redo that poll, at least for us Democrats. My guess is if you’re a Democrat these days, you’re highly engaged. They’ll need to change angry to infuriated, frustrated to discombobulated and afraid to terrified. My guess is 100% will say the Republicans make us feel all three. You can add more like nauseated, disgusted, disturbed and so on…100%.
14
Is there any possibility that a Nonpartisan blanket primary could
a.) fix some of these partisan issues?
and
b.) ever become law?
a.) fix some of these partisan issues?
and
b.) ever become law?
3
Very simple. They're always looking over their shoulder, waiting for the handcuffs. Bigly.
7
As has been pointed out, computer-honed gerrymandering and 30 years of steady exposure to a rightwing media complex spewing nonstop bile and distortion have taken a frightful toll on the country's politics. One can only hope that with the unfolding fiasco of the Trump regime we have reached an inflection point. Changes need to be made and a good start would the abolishing the electoral college. If we're going to put a fool in the White House at least let it be a decision made by a majority of the country.
14
To point out that each side hates the other now is correct, but ignores the asymmetric nature of the history of how we got here. The Republican party has moved much farther right than the Democratic party has moved left. Most importantly, the GOP alone has profited from a designed strategy of fomenting hate of the other side. There is no left-wing counterpart to the decades of demonization of the other side practiced by the right.
Will this history matter? Probably not, but California offers an interesting counterpoint. There, statewide elections have been made (by Republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, no less) much less partisan. The result so far has been Democratic domination of statewide offices, but fairly centrist and effective governance.
Will this history matter? Probably not, but California offers an interesting counterpoint. There, statewide elections have been made (by Republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, no less) much less partisan. The result so far has been Democratic domination of statewide offices, but fairly centrist and effective governance.
16
I think left wing counterpart to right wing media is comedy. Stewart, Bee, and the like.
3
Trump has forgotten the men and women who voted for him thinking he'd serve them, that's for sure.
6
Those who are old enough should remember the old Twilight Zone episode, "To Serve Man." This was the title of a book presented to earthlings by travelers from a distant world. It took folks forever to translate it into English. Meanwhile, many folks travelled to the aliens' home planet. As the protagonist shouted to friends about to get on a spaceship at the end of the episode, "It's a COOKBOOK." Yeah, he is serving them alright.
6
The GOP has gotten too cute by half in its redistricting march over the past couple of decades. The redistricting has not only boxed in conservative voters and boxed out progressives and moderates voters. It's also boxed out flexibility for elected GOP officials. Wonder if they saw that coming?
17
Nice example of why a detest political scientests as a class.
If you accept the thesis fine, but then embrace the corollary: no republican cares about the nation of the United States of America. Their re-election and their party determine their behavior. So if A president is at risk of destroying the country or the world and trashing the constitution so what? Focus on re election and what keeps party power. All else is secondary.
So lead with the lede if playing with this pseudo science. O to use the f word, republicans are fascists.
If you accept the thesis fine, but then embrace the corollary: no republican cares about the nation of the United States of America. Their re-election and their party determine their behavior. So if A president is at risk of destroying the country or the world and trashing the constitution so what? Focus on re election and what keeps party power. All else is secondary.
So lead with the lede if playing with this pseudo science. O to use the f word, republicans are fascists.
6
Interesting comment, we shall see in the next few months whether repubs in congress represent their constituants (I apologize for the misspelling) or their party. It's sort of a real life experiment. Clearly their embrace of Trump and the extremist Trump agenda would imply party first. So far I'd say the jury is out.
4
When the Watergate debacle was in full view, my friends on the Republican side of life insisted this was all just a distraction engineered by vengeful Democrats and that Nixon would prove them all wrong. WRONG!
George H.W. Bush was, arguably, the last moderate Republican to occupy the Oval Office. The now-late Roger Ailes played a pivotal role in taking the Republican Party to the extreme right. And that was before he brought Fox News to the airwaves. Like Rush Limbaugh, Ailes brought divisive politics to an all-time low. The Fox network has only gotten worse in pushing tempers needlessly into the danger zone fear and anger among Repubican voters.
Then, along came Newt Gingrich who saw no limits in perpetuating a hateful monologue against his rivals. His lust for power reached its zenith with the government shutdown in December 1995. He outlawed any notion of bipartison debate, negotiation and compromise; and, he labeled his opponents as unpatriotic.
And to establish vitriol, fear and loathing as the foundation of the Republican Party, a young political consultant, Frank Luntz, was hired to create the language, and strategy, of conservativism: name-calling in the most vile of terms; positioning the party as the only force of good; and, as the only defenders of the Constitution.
The dangers inflicting our nation today are directly attributable to the Republican Party, its stooges and extreme media gasbags like Limbaugh, Alex Jones, Michael Savage and the team at Fox.
George H.W. Bush was, arguably, the last moderate Republican to occupy the Oval Office. The now-late Roger Ailes played a pivotal role in taking the Republican Party to the extreme right. And that was before he brought Fox News to the airwaves. Like Rush Limbaugh, Ailes brought divisive politics to an all-time low. The Fox network has only gotten worse in pushing tempers needlessly into the danger zone fear and anger among Repubican voters.
Then, along came Newt Gingrich who saw no limits in perpetuating a hateful monologue against his rivals. His lust for power reached its zenith with the government shutdown in December 1995. He outlawed any notion of bipartison debate, negotiation and compromise; and, he labeled his opponents as unpatriotic.
And to establish vitriol, fear and loathing as the foundation of the Republican Party, a young political consultant, Frank Luntz, was hired to create the language, and strategy, of conservativism: name-calling in the most vile of terms; positioning the party as the only force of good; and, as the only defenders of the Constitution.
The dangers inflicting our nation today are directly attributable to the Republican Party, its stooges and extreme media gasbags like Limbaugh, Alex Jones, Michael Savage and the team at Fox.
46
All this about the political divide and the "hatred" of the other party and not one word about fox and Ailes who promoted the idea 24/7 that liberals and democrats were un American, un patriotic, and unmanly.
I am a democrat and I fear republicans for what they have wrought in this Nation these last 40 years. They have given only one thing of lasting import that I can tell; a billionaire class that is so out of touch with reality they have forgotten their industries need customers.
Other than that we have seen several unfunded and illegal wars, illegal acts like selling arms to an enemy and giving the proceeds to right wing insurgents in South American Nations whose leftist leaders our right wing presidents feared, and other such invasions and small wars.
I had to scold my hick brother in law this morning that his "Hillary for Prison" t shirt wasn't funny or appropriate, but I don't hate him. I do think he is stupid.
I am a democrat and I fear republicans for what they have wrought in this Nation these last 40 years. They have given only one thing of lasting import that I can tell; a billionaire class that is so out of touch with reality they have forgotten their industries need customers.
Other than that we have seen several unfunded and illegal wars, illegal acts like selling arms to an enemy and giving the proceeds to right wing insurgents in South American Nations whose leftist leaders our right wing presidents feared, and other such invasions and small wars.
I had to scold my hick brother in law this morning that his "Hillary for Prison" t shirt wasn't funny or appropriate, but I don't hate him. I do think he is stupid.
38
Please. The GOP, by and large, are feckless. Have always been feckless. They run as conservatives...win... then govern like Democrat-lites. They are afraid of the media, and are too stupid to see they have the power. They allow Schumer and the other odious leftists kooks to run to the microphones as they contemplate their navels.
They stink on ice.
They stink on ice.
1
Wow. This commenter's perspective is about 180 degrees frm mine. This underscores the theme of the article.
5
Nothing changes until this changes first :
Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right
by Jane Mayer
Link: https://amzn.com/0385535597
Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right
by Jane Mayer
Link: https://amzn.com/0385535597
Anybody with a half a brain would easily realize that we have an insane, moronic, immoral maniac, Donald Trump in the White House. Yet, the power of unchecked propaganda from the despicable Fox News, and the AM radio swamp, has brain washed enough people (mostly white) into believing that down is up, night is day, and Donald Trump is doing a great job, if only they stop mistreating him. Victim in chief will be Trump's next title. It'd be laughable, if it wasn't so tragic.
21
What is missing here is the fact that the Republican agenda has no benefits for either its own base or anyone else; it is merely regressive and cruel, especially to its own constituents. The real story is how much abuse will the white nationalists take in order to screw the other (better) half of the American electorate.
8
Because they are crooks and traitors.
8
Thanks again for your thoughtful insight Mr. Edsall.
However, the more I read these days the more I realize there is much I still don't understand. Is being re-elected enough in and of itself some kind of opiate? Is that desire more important than food, clothing, and shelter? Is the need to pay homage to some political symbol or dogma so great - think repealing Obamacare - that adult men and women would knowingly take steps to deny ordinary citizens the opportunity of having access to affordable health care? And if so, why?
I cannot image these same elected officials going home in the evening and guiding their children’s lives with this kind of value system. There is a disconnect somewhere which I cannot understand.
And what am I to think of their constituents? Who are these people that are afraid of those with different opinions? What is it that they are afraid of losing? Why do they feel threatened?
I can only conclude that there is some catalyst for this often totally irrational behavior – call it human nature if you will – and I don’t like that conclusion because there is no known cure.
However, the more I read these days the more I realize there is much I still don't understand. Is being re-elected enough in and of itself some kind of opiate? Is that desire more important than food, clothing, and shelter? Is the need to pay homage to some political symbol or dogma so great - think repealing Obamacare - that adult men and women would knowingly take steps to deny ordinary citizens the opportunity of having access to affordable health care? And if so, why?
I cannot image these same elected officials going home in the evening and guiding their children’s lives with this kind of value system. There is a disconnect somewhere which I cannot understand.
And what am I to think of their constituents? Who are these people that are afraid of those with different opinions? What is it that they are afraid of losing? Why do they feel threatened?
I can only conclude that there is some catalyst for this often totally irrational behavior – call it human nature if you will – and I don’t like that conclusion because there is no known cure.
11
It's really a headscratcher, why the Democrats struggle so much with the white underclass. Edsall, as usual, does a wonderful job at articulating the conundrum. But still the question remains, why? Why would a white middle-aged truck driver in Ohio earning $50,000 a year so passionately favor the Republican Party, whose policy agenda seeks to reduce taxes and regulation to favor only the rich and corporations? Is it solely cultural/racial identity at this point? Is it that the Democrats have neglected their historically hard-line pro-worker position for a more centrist economic agenda? To me, the challenge which Democrats must face is communicating directly with this constituency, vs avoiding it. Yes, it is great to be pro-choice, pro gay rights, pro minority rights, pro-gender equity, but these "fringe" interests should not dominate the messaging. That is what Bernie got right. He is no less pro-minority than any other Democrat, but he did not message that front and center. White lower and middle class Americans have the most to gain from the Democratic agenda, and the Democrats need to push this with the voters.
111
The Trump voter listening tour continues. I got it!
Less pro-reproductive rights, less pro-minority rights, less pro-LGBT rights
More white people pandering because their "rights" are not under attacked.
Less pro-reproductive rights, less pro-minority rights, less pro-LGBT rights
More white people pandering because their "rights" are not under attacked.
4
Are the Dems willing to lie about how much their policies will benefit the white middle-aged truck driver? If not, forget it. You can't do better than what the GOP is promising if you're not willing to lie. There's the answer to your "head scratcher".
1
Anant Vashi-- I too used to think if the Democrats would only get their 'messaging' right. I no longer believe that. People believe things that confirm their own biases. That kind of bias is not susceptible to logic or fact based discussion. And, just btw, those aren't 'fringe interests,' they're the underpinnings of equality.
1
People who are doing nefarious, sneaking stuff, and causing harm to others, are afraid of being caught, and so are constantly looking over their shoulders. Shows us how proud they are of the awful things they have done, and are doing. I wouldn't trust a Republican as far as I could throw him/her.
7
Though it seems like trimp's days are numbered, neither impeachment, 25thment, or resignation will bring any "closure" or mitigation to a long brewing political crisis of which he is merely a noxious, but passing, symptom. But what are the consequences if trimp actually survives a full term, and perhaps is re-"electorated"?
The underlying pathogen is an overconcentration of nonproductive wealth. It has locked up capital in the hands of irresponsible and unaccountable individuals (an idiot elite .01%) so that our economy is stagnating and our political institutions are becoming less functional and less credible.
This type of concentrated wealth can only endure if the electorate is suppressed by divisions, diversions, and antagonisms. Will signs wages may finally be rising be enough to cool passions, heal resentments, and help people return to more amiable forms of political apathy? I don't think so, at least not until (one way or another) the phenomenon of a preposterous toddling bully in the Oval Office has become a distant memory, eclipsed by fantasies that more credibly promote complacence.
The underlying pathogen is an overconcentration of nonproductive wealth. It has locked up capital in the hands of irresponsible and unaccountable individuals (an idiot elite .01%) so that our economy is stagnating and our political institutions are becoming less functional and less credible.
This type of concentrated wealth can only endure if the electorate is suppressed by divisions, diversions, and antagonisms. Will signs wages may finally be rising be enough to cool passions, heal resentments, and help people return to more amiable forms of political apathy? I don't think so, at least not until (one way or another) the phenomenon of a preposterous toddling bully in the Oval Office has become a distant memory, eclipsed by fantasies that more credibly promote complacence.
6
I would say that republicans are always looking under beds. Probably yours. And mine. Whether it's a communist or person of color or gay or their new hateful flavor of the decade- a "liberal", the Republican Party at is core is the former Dixiecrats who bolted after the civil rights legislation signed, just barely by johnson. The republicans are paranoid of anything that is different or progressive. The original republicans were probably the puritans. At this moment in our nations history I think it is safe to say that the Republican Party has been kidnapped by extremists. Trump is another shape shifting republican. Up is down, wrong is right, truth is fake.
5
It's amazing to watch, and frightful to entertain, the future of this embattled democracy. Politics, the art of the possible, and demanding compromise, has been broken by far-fetched ideas, and actions (Tea Party), contrary to the very wishes of the electorate; and allowing extreme right-winged groups, witness the N.R.A., to impose their will to arm everybody with a pulse, however mentally compromised, so to satisfy corporate greed, capitalism gone awry, to sell weapons...so mayhem can go on. And Trump being a cunning shyster, filled a vacuum in republican ranks, to demagogue the issues for his own benefit...and the country's loss. We need a paradigm in politics, a sort of meeting of the minds of true patriots, telling the government (whose function is to serve the people) the needs and wishes of each community, and then, by prioritizing according to the urgency and possibilities, carry them thorough. The current misrule makes that impossible.
2
Read the book, "Dark Money." It helps explain the Republican Party at this moment in time.
4
Democrats want to make things better for everybody, Republicans want to hold onto power for their own selfish ends.
Now, which one of those two groups do you think would be more likely to always be looking over their shoulder?
Now, which one of those two groups do you think would be more likely to always be looking over their shoulder?
6
I would appreciate a column analyzing the effect of open primaries on the governing qualifications of the winners.
6
Country first...isn't that what McCain's campaign slogan was? Isn't that what voters should expect of congressmen and congresswomen? Let them be primaried, they deserve it. And if the primary goes to entrenched Trumpeteers then the House will go Democratic. God willing.
2
Read Tyler's "On Tyranny". Can their be compromise with incipient fascism ? I've seen this coming since Reagan advanced the Southern Strategy.
The ethically challenged Trump, who has been in court over 3,000 times in his adult life, will do what he always does, hire lawyers, never back down, and sit in his golden bubble.
The question is what the White House staff will do as it sinks in that during the Nixon crash, 48 staff went to prison for complicity in crimes committed by their boss. The big guy always gets off, the minions suffer.
The Republican Party is toast. They have waited too long in the pig pen of Trump and are now covered with filth they cannot wash off. The new sheriff in town has a white hat and a stellar history of getting to the bottom of illegality. This criminal White House and their Republican hangers-on are going to get crushed by a large dose of truth.
The question is what the White House staff will do as it sinks in that during the Nixon crash, 48 staff went to prison for complicity in crimes committed by their boss. The big guy always gets off, the minions suffer.
The Republican Party is toast. They have waited too long in the pig pen of Trump and are now covered with filth they cannot wash off. The new sheriff in town has a white hat and a stellar history of getting to the bottom of illegality. This criminal White House and their Republican hangers-on are going to get crushed by a large dose of truth.
The weaponizing of the gerrymander is killing American democracy. Unless and until we figure out a way to reform the way our electoral districts are drawn representative government will continue it's death spiral toward oligarchy, authoritarianism and kleptocracy.
conservatives have deluded themselves so much with their denial of reality, that they are as tied to Trump as any gang member who is "initiated" by committing murder and thus can't get away from the group..
In your list---"These trends include growing ideological consistency in the electorate, geographic sorting, gerrymandered districts, the perception of partisan opponents as mortal enemies and the emotional intensity underpinning issues of race and sex.---accurate, as always, you left out Right Wing media, whose principle communicators are Fox News, Limbaugh, and Hannity. They have essentially become the State Media to which at least a third of our nation depends, believes, and trusts. State Media is the biggest reason that little can change in the near future. Voters can't "come to their senses" when their senses are controlled---and all their dark urges and prejudices validated---by the single most powerful force in our society today. When 'fake news' is the clarion accusation to truth, there is little hope to cling to.
3
I do not see the equivalency between democrats and republicans. Republicans have been dealing in political brinkmanship, serving the oligarchy. Dems do it too but to the extent of forsaking your country as repubs do, I don't think so.
Disgusting the machinations of McConnell during Obama's Presidency. Republicans lack decency and respect. And they call themselves Christian!
Disgusting the machinations of McConnell during Obama's Presidency. Republicans lack decency and respect. And they call themselves Christian!
The article ignores the Kochs and other powerful puppeteers who’ve figured out how to use tax deductible thinkless tanks and behind the scenes machinations to pull the strings of like-mindless voters and their congressional puppets.
In full view, the gorillas in the room are in the process of keeping more and more of their stealings while making monkeys out of the rest of us.
In full view, the gorillas in the room are in the process of keeping more and more of their stealings while making monkeys out of the rest of us.
3
Republicans look over their shoulder because they fear that truth will catch up to them.
3
It's not that I hate the Republican Party; it's that they hate me.
Trump is under Federal investigation for possible criminal and/or treasonous activity. A special counsel has been appointed by the Judiciary branch to investigate these allegations.
Trump should not enjoy the full powers of the Presidency while being so investigated. What if he is found guilty?
His nomination of a Supreme Court Justice is null and void, no Federal Court Judges can be named by a President under criminal ind treason investigation, he surely can't bind the country - or unbind it - to treaties and pacts while we wait to see see if he is a criminal or a traitor - heck - we might put him to death - he likes the death penalty.\
"Lock him up" Nixon only avoided prison because of the infamous Ford pardon,. Do we see a Pence Pardon on the horizon?
Trump should not enjoy the full powers of the Presidency while being so investigated. What if he is found guilty?
His nomination of a Supreme Court Justice is null and void, no Federal Court Judges can be named by a President under criminal ind treason investigation, he surely can't bind the country - or unbind it - to treaties and pacts while we wait to see see if he is a criminal or a traitor - heck - we might put him to death - he likes the death penalty.\
"Lock him up" Nixon only avoided prison because of the infamous Ford pardon,. Do we see a Pence Pardon on the horizon?
1
Trump will pardon himself.
2
Are you a star-bellied sneetch? Basically both parties are Angry and Afraid of each other but it ain't equivalent. One party only cares for the rich.
1
What this country needs is a good depression------the old fashioned cure for Republican hubris.
1
We just had one, caused by the ubregulated abuse and fraud of Organized Money. Unfortunately, the national Democratic Party had been neutered with campaign financing and failed to respond properly to the situation.
1
People who follow a dishonest leader have no right to call themselves conservative, and every reason to look over their shoulders.
re '“Today we’ll no doubt hear calls for a new investigation,” Mr. McConnell said on the Senate floor"'
And no doubt there will be plaintive calls for securing a national minimum of civilised life ... open to all alike, of both sexes and all classes, by which we mean sufficient nourishment and training when young, a living wage when able-bodied, treatment when sick, and modest but secure livelihood when disabled or aged. McConnell epitomizes the worship of force and the practice of cruel intolerance, and will have none of it. McConnell is a treasonous coward!
And no doubt there will be plaintive calls for securing a national minimum of civilised life ... open to all alike, of both sexes and all classes, by which we mean sufficient nourishment and training when young, a living wage when able-bodied, treatment when sick, and modest but secure livelihood when disabled or aged. McConnell epitomizes the worship of force and the practice of cruel intolerance, and will have none of it. McConnell is a treasonous coward!
1
I will continue to, indiscriminantly, vote liberal until the national republican swamp is cleaned up.
They're supposed to be leaders, not lemmings. If Republican incumbents think for themselves and do what's best for their constituents based on ethical principles rather than party loyalty, they can't go wrong. But most of them aren't in "public service" for the right reasons. Let them go down with their political Titanic.
2
I would very much like to see discussion here, please, on the popular election of senators. Can we undo that? Would it be beneficial? How should our senators be selected?
How about if Republicans lawmakers tried a new approach - voting their conscience?
1
artistcon3--They would have to have consciences. Besides, they are elected to vote CONSTITUENT consciences, not their own. If they are in doubt, I suggest more town halls.
1
The problem there is, they don't have a conscience.
2
"....engaged Republicans — those most likely to cast primary votes — say the Democratic Party makes them feel “afraid,” 58 percent say it makes them “angry” and 58 percent say it makes them “frustrated.” Bingo! This is further evidence of why they think the way they do - fear. It was inherited from evolution and accounts for what differentiates them from everyone else on the political spectrum. It is also a huge advantage when it comes to voter turnout because they are more easily rattled. And the part that nobody seems to figure out is that is subconscious since they were born this way.
minor side-point, and i'm not sure where i read this:
i'd always assumed that trump's post-election pep rallies were mere exercises in ego-maintenance in tough times. a commentator, and i can't remember who, suggested something more strategic: the rallies were intended as shots across the bow of congressional republicans tempted to withdraw support. hmmm....
i'd always assumed that trump's post-election pep rallies were mere exercises in ego-maintenance in tough times. a commentator, and i can't remember who, suggested something more strategic: the rallies were intended as shots across the bow of congressional republicans tempted to withdraw support. hmmm....
if there was ever an argument for permanent term limits, this article is it !
1
Safe districts for Republicans are over 190 versus Democrats around 155. Apoplectic about Trump, but can the Democrats really do anything about mindless partisanship? Not as successful as the Republicans picking their voters, but still going the same wrong way.
How about re-districting for sanity?
How about re-districting for sanity?
1
Other than their way of life, what is it that "conservatives" conserve?
2
Fascinating article, but of course it leaves out the essential question of where Democrats get most of their information about current events and policy issues and where Republicans get theirs. Intense partisanship has taken over the mainstream media and the smaller niche news and opinion sites on the Internet. The line between what is "opinion' and what is "fact" has blurred so pervasively that Henry Luce, whose Time magazine contributed greatly to this blur, would be alarmed. And of course Rupert Murdoch's personal bile against "liberals" has turned a major news network into a permanent attack dog against all thing Democratic. The media on both sides has contributed mightily to this dangerous impasse, and those news organizations that still think of themselves as responsible need to start covering this Maginot landscape far more vigorously than they currently do.
45
I totally agree with Mr. Michener, the role of the internet and social media, as well as the economic policies fueled by Richard Nixon,Ronald Reagon, George H.W. Bush and now, Donald Trumph. It´s like Kerosene and Oxygen added to dry foliage on a windy day.
"We", the people seem to be hopelessly divided and "hating" of the other side. I love the reporting of these data over time of public opinion, but I found myself asking about the "shapers" of public opinion. On basic issues in the Sanders' platform, polls often showed a preference in large majorities of the public nationwide for the basic protections by government that had become traditionally expected. Yes, we want good health care, good schools, college opportunity, better and more jobs, less poor and more successful middle class, and a fair and caring justice system. What we cannot agree upon is the ability and integrity of one side over the other to actually provide those things. And distrust of the government has grown to the point where fear has replaced trust, and "being afraid" of the other side coming into power appears to dominate the public's perception of the most engaged. I would like to see some polling of those who are the monied interests who may have sowed these seeds of discontent. What is their vision of America? What is their intention? Division and chaos? Will that serve their interests best? Is Trump indeed what they hoped for? As in the 2008-9 recession, the rich not only survived, they thrived. Yes, the people are divided. Are the power brokers celebrating?
2
This entire op-ed is missing one thing that seems important. There is not one mention of doing that which is good or appropriate. Among all the verbiage of calculating behavior designed to get that which is wanted, there is no mention of obtaining that which is good for people. This soulless theorem is destructive and is all too present. It must be abandoned and cooperation needs to take its place.
2
The situation is far from symmetric. The passions of the far right and their supporters are based on a severely distorted vision of reality. The same does not apply to the left. Surveys have shown that people on the left tend to be much less susceptible to fake news than those on the right. There just isn't an equivalence between the degree of extremism on the left and the right.
What keeps my hope alive is that many who call themselves conservatives will become aware of the degree to which they have been manipulated by lies perpetrated by the far right, FOX news in particular. A large majority of Americans were aghast at the House GOP Obamacare repeal once they began to understand how it would harm them and their families. Human-caused global climate change is strongly supported by a consensus of scientists whose lifelong quest is the search for facts, not political ideology. Young people generally get it: they understand that they will suffer from climate change long after the generations of their parents and grandparents are gone.
Among the most basic differences between the right and left is understanding people who differ from themselves by political belief, religion, national origin, etc. Most Americans on the left and center of the political spectrum have met and in many cases befriended someone on one of their classes, largely because they live in diverse urban areas. The key to our future lies in acceptance that we are all one species with common interests.
What keeps my hope alive is that many who call themselves conservatives will become aware of the degree to which they have been manipulated by lies perpetrated by the far right, FOX news in particular. A large majority of Americans were aghast at the House GOP Obamacare repeal once they began to understand how it would harm them and their families. Human-caused global climate change is strongly supported by a consensus of scientists whose lifelong quest is the search for facts, not political ideology. Young people generally get it: they understand that they will suffer from climate change long after the generations of their parents and grandparents are gone.
Among the most basic differences between the right and left is understanding people who differ from themselves by political belief, religion, national origin, etc. Most Americans on the left and center of the political spectrum have met and in many cases befriended someone on one of their classes, largely because they live in diverse urban areas. The key to our future lies in acceptance that we are all one species with common interests.
6
Fabulous column and comments. I hope the DNC reads both. Perhaps minor point: 1978 was also the year CA voted for Prop 13. I was just 23. I voted nay, because I could clearly see this as a "starve the beast" ploy wrapped in propaganda of "keeping granny in her home." Sadly I was in a uuuuuge minority. Well, we continue to thrive, but it is on the backs of citizens who pay high state income taxes (soon to not be deductible); enormous fees and tolls for just about everything; highest in the nation sales taxes; and a newly raised gas tax. None of which I am viscerally opposed to. BUT-- prop 13 has unjustly enriched commercial property owners and the wealthy of a certain generation. It has been punitive to just about everyone else. From a cultural point of view, I see it as a watershed: when "me, me, me" became more important than concern for "the general welfare."
3
Thanks, Karen. I am a Los Angeles-born-and-raised, fellow, now 72, who also remembers the debacle of Prop 13. Property taxes for homeowners were going through the roof during that real estate boom with ever-rising home values. The little house in W. Los Angeles where I grew up, was "worth" about $45K in 1969 (my parents bought in 1939 for $5000 with a $500 down payment). By 1976, the market saide it was worth about $250K and rising. As my mother retired from teaching at Santa Monica High School and the City College, her property taxes were nearly $3000! So I understand how Prop. 13 gathered the winning votes. In hindsight, those taxes should have remained at the lower rate at grandfathered in. Eventually, those taxes were lowered to about $700 per year by 1993.
But the biggest effect on California was the loss of property tax revenue needed to support what had been one of the finest public school systems in the country. Since Prop. 13, California's public schools have struggled to keep the doors open, to afford to hire and keep the best and brightest teachers, and to pay for infrastructure maintenance costs.
As you know, school-choice vouchers have been proposed and defeated several times in California. Then the K-12 charter schools arrived. So did upstart private schools. As public education suffered, parents were willing to pay thousands of dollars per year for privitized school tuition, rather than a small tax to support and keep public schools. Shameful.
But the biggest effect on California was the loss of property tax revenue needed to support what had been one of the finest public school systems in the country. Since Prop. 13, California's public schools have struggled to keep the doors open, to afford to hire and keep the best and brightest teachers, and to pay for infrastructure maintenance costs.
As you know, school-choice vouchers have been proposed and defeated several times in California. Then the K-12 charter schools arrived. So did upstart private schools. As public education suffered, parents were willing to pay thousands of dollars per year for privitized school tuition, rather than a small tax to support and keep public schools. Shameful.
1
Jaren--Perhaps California voters were expecting Jerry Brown to be just like Ronald Reagan.
So, what do the political scientists propose for a solution?
Even a 5-year old could see the obvious dysfunction in congress.
I might also add, since the 2010 mid-term election, there were many republicans replaced by firebrand T-party folks. This did not spring up organically, it was carefully orchestrated and funded by the wealthiest americans in our country as documented in Jane Mayer's book, Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right.
Even a 5-year old could see the obvious dysfunction in congress.
I might also add, since the 2010 mid-term election, there were many republicans replaced by firebrand T-party folks. This did not spring up organically, it was carefully orchestrated and funded by the wealthiest americans in our country as documented in Jane Mayer's book, Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right.
5
The situation described here equates pretty well with HRC's move leftward when confronted with Bernie Sanders' campaign promises.
And if geographic sorting is as prevalent has Edsall thinks, then every district will eventually come to be gerrymandered in effect, and any attempt to create a more or less balanced district will require gerrymandering itself.
And if geographic sorting is as prevalent has Edsall thinks, then every district will eventually come to be gerrymandered in effect, and any attempt to create a more or less balanced district will require gerrymandering itself.
1
What I find most ironic about Republican legislators is how cowardice serves their interest so well. After all, they are the dam that floods Washington's political terrain creating the so-called "swamp" that Trump pledged to "drain".
The swamp. A closed corporation of serving politicians who sell access and legislative favors, the buyers special-interest lobbyists, most retired politicians. "One hand washes the other". Retired politicians use their intimate knowledge of how the republic's institutions actually work to cut deals, corners and angles. Retired politicians use social connections built up over decades in some cases to gain access or call-in favors done years before. Because they can, they enjoy immensely lucrative second careers as registered lobbyists. They "cash in", in two words.
That both groups are self-seeking careerists disdainful of the public interest goes unsaid, but that's something Trump voters knew already. What Trump did to win their votes was pledge them his fealty. He would be their champion. Only he could ride into Washington and "drain the swamp".
But just look at him now. In a matter of weeks those whom Trump pledged to destroy hold life-&-death power over his presidency, thanks to his incompetent bungling. So, of course they do nothing. They hold him at knofe-point, have him exactly where they want him. Meanwhile, behold the undrained Washington swamp, brim-full and overflowing, the fat pickings better-than-ever.
The swamp. A closed corporation of serving politicians who sell access and legislative favors, the buyers special-interest lobbyists, most retired politicians. "One hand washes the other". Retired politicians use their intimate knowledge of how the republic's institutions actually work to cut deals, corners and angles. Retired politicians use social connections built up over decades in some cases to gain access or call-in favors done years before. Because they can, they enjoy immensely lucrative second careers as registered lobbyists. They "cash in", in two words.
That both groups are self-seeking careerists disdainful of the public interest goes unsaid, but that's something Trump voters knew already. What Trump did to win their votes was pledge them his fealty. He would be their champion. Only he could ride into Washington and "drain the swamp".
But just look at him now. In a matter of weeks those whom Trump pledged to destroy hold life-&-death power over his presidency, thanks to his incompetent bungling. So, of course they do nothing. They hold him at knofe-point, have him exactly where they want him. Meanwhile, behold the undrained Washington swamp, brim-full and overflowing, the fat pickings better-than-ever.
3
Great discussion, Steve. As the mastermind of the S&L crisis in the late 1980s told a journalist, and I am paraphrasing as best I can, "Influence in government is not as important as access."
Yes, the revolving door of corporate executive moles voted into the House and Senate to serve their former employers, keeping their doors open to the endless stream of lobbyists, and finally, "retiring" from the Congress to return to their corporate employers (with massive bonuse for a job well done), or becoming seven-figure lobbyists themselves, has been the hideous agenda of too may members of that institution. Now, those executives are chosen to run the EPA, Interior, FCC, FAA, Energy, Education, Housing, ... simply to kill those important government functions that serve all Americans.
The now-proverbial swamp is swarming with parasitic organisms mucking about this primoridal ooze.
Yes, the revolving door of corporate executive moles voted into the House and Senate to serve their former employers, keeping their doors open to the endless stream of lobbyists, and finally, "retiring" from the Congress to return to their corporate employers (with massive bonuse for a job well done), or becoming seven-figure lobbyists themselves, has been the hideous agenda of too may members of that institution. Now, those executives are chosen to run the EPA, Interior, FCC, FAA, Energy, Education, Housing, ... simply to kill those important government functions that serve all Americans.
The now-proverbial swamp is swarming with parasitic organisms mucking about this primoridal ooze.
The people of the United States have been had, pure and simple.
As the Democrats slept, the Republicans gerrymandered them out of existence. As the neoliberals focused on transgender bathrooms and shifted focus from economic concerns, the right brainwashed the people with a barrage of fake news and talk radio that demonized the Dems.
As the Dems allowed the Clintons to exert a stranglehold on the party, the Republicans nurtured 17, count them, 17 candidates for president.
Bernie Sanders' instructive and two-way conversations with Trump voters, some of which ended in standing ovations, prove that people will respond to sincere understanding of their plight and lucid explanation of what could make things better.
Democrats had better seize this moment.
As the Democrats slept, the Republicans gerrymandered them out of existence. As the neoliberals focused on transgender bathrooms and shifted focus from economic concerns, the right brainwashed the people with a barrage of fake news and talk radio that demonized the Dems.
As the Dems allowed the Clintons to exert a stranglehold on the party, the Republicans nurtured 17, count them, 17 candidates for president.
Bernie Sanders' instructive and two-way conversations with Trump voters, some of which ended in standing ovations, prove that people will respond to sincere understanding of their plight and lucid explanation of what could make things better.
Democrats had better seize this moment.
8
The most important aspect to this whole rightward lurch is the hate fomented by the right's media arms. The fact that President Obama, a man who frustrated highly engaged democrats for 8 years, was seen as some kind of socialist monster who was coming for your guns so only the homosexuals would be armed when the Muslims took control of the rural town councils after he met each terrorist at our open borders and provided each of them with a job or leg up onto Americas safety net (hammock), shows just how insidious and powerful the propaganda machine was. In fact, the only way that people would be open to those kind of, outright fictions, would be if they were conditioned to hate. A condition that infects, not just our politics and our culture, but one that leaves the hater far more diminished then the object of their ire.
8
You left out, the welfare moms who would chauffeur these new immigrants to the town council meetings in their shiny new Cadillacs. If only there were more enlightened self-interest, there would be far less hate in this world. We are living largely in a lose-lose period of time, a form of political self-induced strangulation.
1
Perfect analysis, Rick.
George H.W. Bush was, arguably, the last moderate Republican to occupy the Oval Office. The now-late Roger Ailes played a pivotal role in taking the Republican Party to the extreme right. And that was before he brought Fox News to the airwaves. Like Rush Limbaugh, Ailes brought divisive politics to an all-time low. The Fox network has only gotten worse in pushing tempers needlessly into the danger zone fear and anger among Republican voters.
Then, along came Newt Gingrich who saw no limits in perpetuating a hateful monologue against his rivals. His lust for power reached its zenith with the government shutdown in December 1995. He outlawed any notion of bipartisan debate, negotiation and compromise; and, he labeled his opponents as unpatriotic.
And to establish an even worse vitriol, fear and loathing as the foundation of the Republican Party, a young political consultant, Frank Luntz, was hired to create the language, and strategy, of conservatism: name-calling in the most vile of terms; positioning the party as the only force of good; and, as the only defenders of the Constitution.
The dangers inflicting our nation today are directly attributable to the Republican Party, its stooges and extreme media gasbags like Limbaugh, Alex Jones, Michael Savage and the team at Fox.
George H.W. Bush was, arguably, the last moderate Republican to occupy the Oval Office. The now-late Roger Ailes played a pivotal role in taking the Republican Party to the extreme right. And that was before he brought Fox News to the airwaves. Like Rush Limbaugh, Ailes brought divisive politics to an all-time low. The Fox network has only gotten worse in pushing tempers needlessly into the danger zone fear and anger among Republican voters.
Then, along came Newt Gingrich who saw no limits in perpetuating a hateful monologue against his rivals. His lust for power reached its zenith with the government shutdown in December 1995. He outlawed any notion of bipartisan debate, negotiation and compromise; and, he labeled his opponents as unpatriotic.
And to establish an even worse vitriol, fear and loathing as the foundation of the Republican Party, a young political consultant, Frank Luntz, was hired to create the language, and strategy, of conservatism: name-calling in the most vile of terms; positioning the party as the only force of good; and, as the only defenders of the Constitution.
The dangers inflicting our nation today are directly attributable to the Republican Party, its stooges and extreme media gasbags like Limbaugh, Alex Jones, Michael Savage and the team at Fox.
2
Dems fear of Repubs is rational. Fear of environmental, medical and economic harm. Fear of elected supporters of a man who is at least questionably mentally ill. The voting patterns may be real, but equivalence between parties is false.
A fix to the partisanship divide would be to create a political party that promises not to field a candidate for President. The "American Party" or "The Independent Party." Republicans who do not fit in a party that sanctions a serial liar who brags of abusing women may leave the Republican Party for The Indendents. Same with Dems who have beliefs more conservative than the mainstream of their party. Manchin, Tester, McCain, Collins, Sasse and a few others could vote to caucus with the Repubs, giving them control of the Senate for a limited period based on McConnell's assurances to fix health care, do infrastructure, etc. A half dozen in a tie-breaker party would force a middle way, a rational requirement for congress to compromise and get things done. This could win conservative Dems and less radical Repubs votes and grant them lots of power for rational and pragmatic work.
A fix to the partisanship divide would be to create a political party that promises not to field a candidate for President. The "American Party" or "The Independent Party." Republicans who do not fit in a party that sanctions a serial liar who brags of abusing women may leave the Republican Party for The Indendents. Same with Dems who have beliefs more conservative than the mainstream of their party. Manchin, Tester, McCain, Collins, Sasse and a few others could vote to caucus with the Repubs, giving them control of the Senate for a limited period based on McConnell's assurances to fix health care, do infrastructure, etc. A half dozen in a tie-breaker party would force a middle way, a rational requirement for congress to compromise and get things done. This could win conservative Dems and less radical Repubs votes and grant them lots of power for rational and pragmatic work.
3
I believe your analysis is essentially correct, we need a centrist party to balance out the extremes and take some of the wind out of the sails of the far right Republicans. The first task, however, is to end gerrymandering of House districts by any political party. It amounts to vote theft, cancelling out the votes of the opposite party and the Republicans have played that dirty game very well since 2010 because they control more state legislatures. This must stop. Why do we put up with our democracy being stolen right in front of our faces?
4
A third party option always sounds great to those of us who reside just left of center on most issues. Even a little right of center on a few. The fifty-yard line is a great vantage point to review all sides of a debate.
But a third party could very well attract a lot more Democrats than Republicans simply because there are so few moderate Republicans left. They will not likely leave their party for a third, independent movement. Thus, they will retain their stranglehold on nearly every level of politics in far too many districts and states.
But a third party could very well attract a lot more Democrats than Republicans simply because there are so few moderate Republicans left. They will not likely leave their party for a third, independent movement. Thus, they will retain their stranglehold on nearly every level of politics in far too many districts and states.
I remember 1979. The abortion lobby produced polls showing that "the overwhelming majority of Americans support abortion" (what they polls actually asked was whether there was any situation -- ie the health of the mother -- where the respondent thought abortion should be allowed, which is not the same thing as asking whether they supported abortion on demand). A lot of moderates fell for the scam and ruined their careers.
I am definitely part of the problem because I think the only purpose of the national Republican Party is to funnel more and more money and power to the rich. What else have they ever done since the Reagan Administration? The Republicans are also more than willing to cheat and game the system through gerrymandering, voter suppression and the like. They also routinely put partisan politics far above the national interest. If my observations are correct, and I think they're supported by facts, how can you not hate the Republican Party?
14
It was Fox News that first cultivated anger, frustration, and fear of Democrats among Republicans. Before then there was disagreement, but also at least some grudging tolerance, some measure of mutual respect. Now all that is gone.
I would like to see these numbers broken down during this time period. I bet that it took a good 5, 10, even 20 years before Democrats viewed Republicans with the same anger and fear since Fox News poisoned Republicans' minds; it was only after Democrats became aware that their former friends, neighbors, and even spouses hated them for their political views that Democrats began to respond in kind.
I would like to see these numbers broken down during this time period. I bet that it took a good 5, 10, even 20 years before Democrats viewed Republicans with the same anger and fear since Fox News poisoned Republicans' minds; it was only after Democrats became aware that their former friends, neighbors, and even spouses hated them for their political views that Democrats began to respond in kind.
7
Sherry, I agree. And two metaphors come to mind in that regard. We, as Democrats, are like the frog in a pot of cold water only to have the heat turned up until we it was too late to realize were being boiled to death.
The other metaphor is from the fairy tale of the scorpion begging the frog for a ride on his back across the stream. The frog said, "But you will sting me and I will die." The scorpion replied, "Not if you give me the ride. I will be so grateful." And so the went across the stream to the other side. When they reached the shore, the scorpion stung the frog and, before he died, he asked, "I am dying! You promised not to sting me." The scorpion replied, "It is my nature."
And therein explains today's Republican Party. It is their nature to penalize the poor and the sick and the old because they prefer Ayn Rand's philosophy of "every man for himself." Given just how many Republicans vow their allegiance to Jesus, they apparently find his teachings of empathy and compassion a bit out of touch with the free market of Rand and Alan Greenspan, the self-described libertarian economist who deregulated America into oblivion from 1986-The Great Recession.
The other metaphor is from the fairy tale of the scorpion begging the frog for a ride on his back across the stream. The frog said, "But you will sting me and I will die." The scorpion replied, "Not if you give me the ride. I will be so grateful." And so the went across the stream to the other side. When they reached the shore, the scorpion stung the frog and, before he died, he asked, "I am dying! You promised not to sting me." The scorpion replied, "It is my nature."
And therein explains today's Republican Party. It is their nature to penalize the poor and the sick and the old because they prefer Ayn Rand's philosophy of "every man for himself." Given just how many Republicans vow their allegiance to Jesus, they apparently find his teachings of empathy and compassion a bit out of touch with the free market of Rand and Alan Greenspan, the self-described libertarian economist who deregulated America into oblivion from 1986-The Great Recession.
1
Here is another perspective: The Democrats' big-donor base will not support credible candidates who either have, or must take, more conservative views in rural areas, especially on gun rights.
Supporting gun control will simply doom a rural candidate. I came in as a last-minute candidate against Doc Hastings in the 2002 WA District 4 race precisely to show Democrats that they could restore their appeal with New Deal economics (ala Bernie) as long as they would diffuse the Culture War with Gun Rights-to-Gay Rights libertarianism on social issues.
My appeal among labor groups being lost to Republicans led "big money" to talk to me in December of 2002. After a couple of weeks, the word came back, "We really like you, but you must drop your support of gun rights." I told them (a) I believe that we must support a universal libertarianism as a matter of principle, and as a way to diffuse cultural issues to focus on economic issues, and (b) as a practical matter, opposing gun rights is the path to electoral slaughter. So, I dropped back out of politics.
Then, in 2004, the labor leaders asked me to get re-involved because a subset of within-district "money" had picked a former Republican to run against Hastings, alienating even usually reliable labor. So, I got active and worked to try to save Democratic votes in areas abandoned by the Seattle-donor myopia. I was protecting statewide elections from falling rural votes.
Democratic candidate Gregoire won in 2004 by 240 votes.
Supporting gun control will simply doom a rural candidate. I came in as a last-minute candidate against Doc Hastings in the 2002 WA District 4 race precisely to show Democrats that they could restore their appeal with New Deal economics (ala Bernie) as long as they would diffuse the Culture War with Gun Rights-to-Gay Rights libertarianism on social issues.
My appeal among labor groups being lost to Republicans led "big money" to talk to me in December of 2002. After a couple of weeks, the word came back, "We really like you, but you must drop your support of gun rights." I told them (a) I believe that we must support a universal libertarianism as a matter of principle, and as a way to diffuse cultural issues to focus on economic issues, and (b) as a practical matter, opposing gun rights is the path to electoral slaughter. So, I dropped back out of politics.
Then, in 2004, the labor leaders asked me to get re-involved because a subset of within-district "money" had picked a former Republican to run against Hastings, alienating even usually reliable labor. So, I got active and worked to try to save Democratic votes in areas abandoned by the Seattle-donor myopia. I was protecting statewide elections from falling rural votes.
Democratic candidate Gregoire won in 2004 by 240 votes.
2
I've never understood the whole "gun rights" thing...always seemed so 19th century.
I understand how urban folks, who only see a gun in a mugger's hand, support gun control, but look at this:
Many rural men grew up with a gun in their hand, under extreme safety training. Not only are they extremely safe with a gun (e.g., NEVER point it where you would not want it to shoot, NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES YOU CONFIRMED IT WAS EMPTY), but they were raised with self-discipline, and with very hard work as part of their upbringing. They simply do not need "gun control" to have them behave.
Then, they are raised in the lore of the Revolution, and they truly believe that by having guns they are defending freedom. My words, not theirs, is that they are defending a Right to Insurrection, and they see themselves as latent Minute Men as in the American Revolution. That is quaint, I know, in an age of being shot through walls by soldiers spotting you with thermal imaging, but the commitment is real, and it would be easier to change their religion (and many are secular) than to change their beliefs about guns.
Next, it is dangerous to EVER say that "things" cause crimes. Books, ideas, guns, pornography, recreational drugs, etc. If "my things" don't cause crime, but "your things" CAUSE crime, we incrementally attack the presumption behind responsible liberty -- that we have free will.
Having taught school among the well-behaved and the poorly-behaved (urban and rural), I can say that we see violent criminals coming around 5th grade. Gun rights folks points have merit.
Many rural men grew up with a gun in their hand, under extreme safety training. Not only are they extremely safe with a gun (e.g., NEVER point it where you would not want it to shoot, NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES YOU CONFIRMED IT WAS EMPTY), but they were raised with self-discipline, and with very hard work as part of their upbringing. They simply do not need "gun control" to have them behave.
Then, they are raised in the lore of the Revolution, and they truly believe that by having guns they are defending freedom. My words, not theirs, is that they are defending a Right to Insurrection, and they see themselves as latent Minute Men as in the American Revolution. That is quaint, I know, in an age of being shot through walls by soldiers spotting you with thermal imaging, but the commitment is real, and it would be easier to change their religion (and many are secular) than to change their beliefs about guns.
Next, it is dangerous to EVER say that "things" cause crimes. Books, ideas, guns, pornography, recreational drugs, etc. If "my things" don't cause crime, but "your things" CAUSE crime, we incrementally attack the presumption behind responsible liberty -- that we have free will.
Having taught school among the well-behaved and the poorly-behaved (urban and rural), I can say that we see violent criminals coming around 5th grade. Gun rights folks points have merit.
1
Leaving President Trump aside for a moment, I think this is the best argument I've ever heard for non-partisan Congressional redistricting. Eliminate safe districts and reorient the political discourse back towards general elections. I doubt this will ever happen. You have 347 seats and growing safe seats in Congress opposed to the idea. Not to mention, you'd also be picking a fight with states rights advocates as redistricting is currently the prerogative of the Governor. All the same, non-partisan redistricting is really the only solution. We really shouldn't have districts drawn around 10 year old census data either but that's a different story.
11
Throw both parties overboard. Progressives are continually amazed at people who vote against their own self interest. Yet voting for either party is a vote against your own self interest because candidates of both parties are only concerned about self enrichment and getting re-elected. Times change; old paradigms no longer work. It's time for a third party. Or fourth.
1
Republicans as well as the rest of us haven't yet seen the tip of the iceberg regarding Trump.
The man has been involved in shady deals with even shadier characters for many years.
There is clear evidence of his ties to Russian oligarchs, mobsters and others going back to the 70s.
More recently, 4 years ago, he famously brought the Miss Universe pageant to Moscow. While there he used the show as an entree to become chummy with lots of Russian power brokers.
The NYT did an article on this:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/16/us/politics/donald-trump-russia-busin...
However, this is just the appetizer, so to speak.
He has been linked, on paper and during interviews, with so many Russian oligarchs, mobsters and government officials that the evidence is overwhelming that he owes them big time for what they have given him, literally, billions of dollars in "investments".
This Dutch documentary shows much of the incriminating evidence. It is very well made and should be required watching for anyone concerned about his Russian ties.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKLWloj2ohM
The more this unravels the worse it will get.
The man has been involved in shady deals with even shadier characters for many years.
There is clear evidence of his ties to Russian oligarchs, mobsters and others going back to the 70s.
More recently, 4 years ago, he famously brought the Miss Universe pageant to Moscow. While there he used the show as an entree to become chummy with lots of Russian power brokers.
The NYT did an article on this:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/16/us/politics/donald-trump-russia-busin...
However, this is just the appetizer, so to speak.
He has been linked, on paper and during interviews, with so many Russian oligarchs, mobsters and government officials that the evidence is overwhelming that he owes them big time for what they have given him, literally, billions of dollars in "investments".
This Dutch documentary shows much of the incriminating evidence. It is very well made and should be required watching for anyone concerned about his Russian ties.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKLWloj2ohM
The more this unravels the worse it will get.
5
Each year on Washington's birthday, the Senate reads Washington's "Farewell Address" and every year they ignore his advice on many issues, chief among them is warning about factions:
"They serve to organize faction; to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put in the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of a party, often a
small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration
the mirror of the ill concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common councils and modified by mutual interests."
"They serve to organize faction; to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put in the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of a party, often a
small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration
the mirror of the ill concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common councils and modified by mutual interests."
4
Republicans do well offering their supporters fringe issues, religion, abortion and guns. But the truth is they truly do the bidding of the 1%, corporations and lobbyists. Their constituents are too uneducated to know that they have been played. The things they truly require, Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, Healthcare, Education, they lose under Republican control.
9
Carol, I agree with nearly everything you stated. But here is something we must also consider. The term "uneducated" as a description of the basic Republican supporter must be defined more clearly. For instance, I know a lot of Republicans, many since my childhood, who went on to college, got their degrees, post-graduate degrees and so on. Yet, their view of the human condition never evolved with formal education. And therein seems to be a big problem. Yes, the Trump supporters, by and large, seem to be dominated by those without formal education past K-12. The others simply don't possess a world view of humanity and our environment. They are easy pickings for the extreme right-wing media gasbags.
1
Thomas Edsall adopts one of the most tired canards of journalism and political science -- false balance. To the extent that he compares Republicans and Democrats, he treats them as equally hostile to the other. Wrong. Political scientists like Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson have argued what a growing number of political scientists are finally recognizing -- that the burden of responsibility for the failing American political system lies with fanatically conservative Republicans.
The obvious question that Edsall either misses or ignores: If Democrats view Republicans with as much hostility as Republicans do Democrats, why the glaring imbalance in outcomes? Why is it Republicans who block so much Democratic legislation rather than Democrats blocking Republican work? There are some easily identified differences, the different primary systems the two parties have adopted, for example. But that is insufficient to account for what is happening in Congress.
Mr. Edsall doesn't dig at all beyond the safe, comfortable -- and false -- lines offered for years by Marc Hetherington.
The obvious question that Edsall either misses or ignores: If Democrats view Republicans with as much hostility as Republicans do Democrats, why the glaring imbalance in outcomes? Why is it Republicans who block so much Democratic legislation rather than Democrats blocking Republican work? There are some easily identified differences, the different primary systems the two parties have adopted, for example. But that is insufficient to account for what is happening in Congress.
Mr. Edsall doesn't dig at all beyond the safe, comfortable -- and false -- lines offered for years by Marc Hetherington.
21
I think your point about the parties is correct, but that's not the topic of Mr Edsall's essay. He's analyzing the political dilemma of the Republican congressional majorities at this critical point. Do they jump or do they stay? An interesting and important question, one loaded with consequences either way.
1
The march rightward has also happened because the very far right has been funded, organized, and active for decades, slowly and methodically getting their people elected to local offices, then they gradually move up to more influential positions. It's been deliberately coordinated with religious fundamentalists, to the point that their members feel that their eternal salvation is at stake when they vote.
23
Republicans need to decide if the USA is more important to them than their office. Republicans talk about heroes all the time but when it comes time to actually be one, they scurry off into some corner to hide. This country deserves better representation from all its parties. Country must come first. We need to stop all gerrymandering now and get a bipartisan commission to set them up going forward. The States obviously cannot be trusted to do the morally correct thing. Power should not stand above all else.
16
"members of the House and Senate are “single-minded seekers of re-election.”
In other words many of them are not citizen legislators: they see their winning a place in Congress once they have it as an entitlement and their constituents as the means for keeping it as long as they do the bare minimum while following their own agenda. This, especially since it continues, is not good for democracy, people's willingness to participate, or keeping the country unified. Americans should start a public discussion about changing how elections are run, how long campaigns are, how districts are drawn, and how much influence organizations like the NRA, ALEC, etc., are allowed to have, and how much corporations and others are allowed to donate to campaigns. It's clear that money and not qualifications has overtaken our selection of candidates and winners during election years. Part of the result has been losing the middle, no compromises, and bad government. The longer this continues the less people feel engaged or represented. I don't think that our country's founders would appreciate our further disengagement from the process of government even though the GOP seems determined to decrease it by making it harder to vote.
In other words many of them are not citizen legislators: they see their winning a place in Congress once they have it as an entitlement and their constituents as the means for keeping it as long as they do the bare minimum while following their own agenda. This, especially since it continues, is not good for democracy, people's willingness to participate, or keeping the country unified. Americans should start a public discussion about changing how elections are run, how long campaigns are, how districts are drawn, and how much influence organizations like the NRA, ALEC, etc., are allowed to have, and how much corporations and others are allowed to donate to campaigns. It's clear that money and not qualifications has overtaken our selection of candidates and winners during election years. Part of the result has been losing the middle, no compromises, and bad government. The longer this continues the less people feel engaged or represented. I don't think that our country's founders would appreciate our further disengagement from the process of government even though the GOP seems determined to decrease it by making it harder to vote.
14
Please explain to me why a GOP vote in Michigan is worth 2-2.5 times a Dem vote? There is a simple answer - gerrymandering. Districts are gerry'd by the party in power and by carving up districts in the most beneficial way, and my state no longer has a representative democracy. It hardly matters if Democrats turn out the vote because it's almost impossible to win - fact. Repubs now only have to worry about being primaried, and our representatives turn further to the right than the people they actually represent. Your column is heavy on attitudes and feelings and light on the enormity of the statistically significant gerrymander.
24
In recent years, the problem has intensified because Democrats, especially younger and minority voters, do not seem to realize that the redustricting and gerrymandering takes place after each census (as in 2011) and is mostly done by sitting state legislators, elected by low turnout voters, and that the Koch Brothers-financed candidates tend to win and lay the groundwork for GOP over-representation. Paying more attention to state elections is vital.
40
arp-- blame for this must fall on the very weak and inactive Democratic party apparatus. They are the ones who need to get voters registered and get people to the polls and explain the hyper-importance of state elections. The party leadership has been president focused at least since the 2008 election of Obama, whose success was based more on personality and multiple niche appeal, versus "chops" and experience,.
3
Ever since Howard Dean handed the DNC chair to Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the party has been sailng without a rudder. So glad she his out. But, what next for the Democratic Party and the DNC? We should not have to wait for the Republicans to fall on their collective swords to bring the country back to sanity.
Also, doesn't the president get to nominate the head of the Census Bureau?
Well I am neither a Democrat or Republican and I dislike both for the same reason- neither represents the broad will of the American people and both are corrupt to the core.
Analysis has shown that the will of the people has almost no impact on policy but that the interests of the wealthy are always well represented regardless of which party is in power. The two most popular programs in America are Social Security and Medicare, yet almost all Republicans and most "Third Way" type (read Clintonite/DLC) Democrats have been toying with the destruction of both. Even Obama toyed with Chained CPI which is a way to cut benefits over time by intentionally understating inflation to get a Grand Bargain (The Grand Betrayal) with Republicans. Hillary wanted to means test Social Security despite it being not an entitlement, but an insurance system paid for by premiums collected as a a tax.
The Clinton wing of the Democrats stands where the Republicans of the 1960's stood and today's Republicans act like the love child of Joe McCarthy & Ebenezer Scrooge. Neither stands for the views of the Square Deal, New Deal, Fair Deal, New Frontier or Great Society despite the social and economic advances of all of them. Michael Moore is right- the American Eagle has two Right Wings & no Left Wing- the Democrats are Center Right and the Republicans want to return to the Gilded Age.
Senator Bernie Sanders stands for the most part where FDR did and the Clintonites treated him like a leper last year.
Analysis has shown that the will of the people has almost no impact on policy but that the interests of the wealthy are always well represented regardless of which party is in power. The two most popular programs in America are Social Security and Medicare, yet almost all Republicans and most "Third Way" type (read Clintonite/DLC) Democrats have been toying with the destruction of both. Even Obama toyed with Chained CPI which is a way to cut benefits over time by intentionally understating inflation to get a Grand Bargain (The Grand Betrayal) with Republicans. Hillary wanted to means test Social Security despite it being not an entitlement, but an insurance system paid for by premiums collected as a a tax.
The Clinton wing of the Democrats stands where the Republicans of the 1960's stood and today's Republicans act like the love child of Joe McCarthy & Ebenezer Scrooge. Neither stands for the views of the Square Deal, New Deal, Fair Deal, New Frontier or Great Society despite the social and economic advances of all of them. Michael Moore is right- the American Eagle has two Right Wings & no Left Wing- the Democrats are Center Right and the Republicans want to return to the Gilded Age.
Senator Bernie Sanders stands for the most part where FDR did and the Clintonites treated him like a leper last year.
36
Democratic policy positions are almost universally supported by a majority of the electorate.
8
Dear bernie bro: sanders would not have won the general election against ANY GOP candidate; HRC did win. HRC would have been a perfectly good place-holder for all who lean more to the left (and I am one); instead, your stubbornness, your votes for a nothing like Jill Stein, and/or your decison to stay home have brought us to the precipice. Thanks for being so idealistic!
1
To Karen: Hillary lost the election in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. I doubt that the "Bernie Bros" cost her those states. Her campaign was incredibly tone deaf and did not pay sufficient attention to the populist tide of the times. For instance, she inexplicably declined to speak at the University of Notre Dame because the campaign didn't think it needed those voters. Well, Notre Dame is a really big deal among white Catholic voters, including those in the states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. That's just one example of the campaign's blind spot. The election was so close that a variety of things cost her the election, including Comey and the Russians. She was also hurt, however, by too much reliance on so-called identity politics and not enough on the economic issues which cut across all gender, color and ethnic lines. Her cozy and lucrative relationship with Wall Street didn't help, either. Don't blame the "Bernie Bros" for all that.
1
The Republican dialectic forecasts that the party will lose its constituents as soon as it realizes its small government goals. That's because so many so called "small government conservatives" are themselves on the dole. For example, 62% of those covered under Obamacare live in Republican congressional districts. Obamacare benefits many white working class people who voted for Trump and Republicans. In fact, the white working class inordinately benefits from the governmental safety net programs that they consistently vote against.
But many of those benefits would end when the Republican dream is realized and the white working class will be left to twist in the wind. As Joni Mitchell once sang, "You don't know what you got 'til it's gone."
That is when the political balance will finally change against the Republicans in America.
But many of those benefits would end when the Republican dream is realized and the white working class will be left to twist in the wind. As Joni Mitchell once sang, "You don't know what you got 'til it's gone."
That is when the political balance will finally change against the Republicans in America.
4
Ralph, I hope you are right. And I for one will enjoy watching these ignorant voters twist in the wind. Hearing them pray to jesus for salvation as they twist will only add to my admittedly sadistic pleasure. Even in democratic CA we have these folks: they do not work, they live in crummy little enclaves, unwilling to relocate to get a job; they spend their time watching, listening and scanning right-wing media which tells them they are the "great" Americans. Meanwhile, here in the overwhelmingly democratic bay area, people of all races, faiths, ethnic backgrounds etc. are working their fool heads off to keep the lights on for the dumb and dumber.
Fear, loathing, suspicion, conspiracy - and unfettered greed and selfishness - are the hallmark features of the Grand Old Paranoia party.
"The Paranoid Style in American Politics" by historian Richard Hofstadter covered this subject in Harper's Magazine in 1964 and the Republican Party have made it their political modus operandi.
It's best personified by Joseph McCarthy's psychopathic practice of making accusations of subversion without regard for evidence.
Modern Republicanism is a lower-grade form of McCarthyism.
The right lives to hate and hallucinate for a living, imagining devils in Benghazi and emails while giving a complete pass to the realities of collapsed infrastructure, America's #1 Health Care Rip-Off, corporate and 0.1% tax evasion, and sensible regulation to maintain the public good and consumer protections.
Hofstadter: "A distinguished historian has said that one of the most valuable things about history is that it teaches us how things do not happen. It is precisely this kind of awareness that the paranoid fails to develop. He has a special resistance of his own, of course, to developing such awareness, but circumstances often deprive him of exposure to events that might enlighten him—and in any case he resists enlightenment."
"We are all sufferers from history, but the paranoid is a double sufferer, since he is afflicted not only by the real world, with the rest of us, but by his fantasies as well."
Grand Old Paranoia is no way to run a country.
"The Paranoid Style in American Politics" by historian Richard Hofstadter covered this subject in Harper's Magazine in 1964 and the Republican Party have made it their political modus operandi.
It's best personified by Joseph McCarthy's psychopathic practice of making accusations of subversion without regard for evidence.
Modern Republicanism is a lower-grade form of McCarthyism.
The right lives to hate and hallucinate for a living, imagining devils in Benghazi and emails while giving a complete pass to the realities of collapsed infrastructure, America's #1 Health Care Rip-Off, corporate and 0.1% tax evasion, and sensible regulation to maintain the public good and consumer protections.
Hofstadter: "A distinguished historian has said that one of the most valuable things about history is that it teaches us how things do not happen. It is precisely this kind of awareness that the paranoid fails to develop. He has a special resistance of his own, of course, to developing such awareness, but circumstances often deprive him of exposure to events that might enlighten him—and in any case he resists enlightenment."
"We are all sufferers from history, but the paranoid is a double sufferer, since he is afflicted not only by the real world, with the rest of us, but by his fantasies as well."
Grand Old Paranoia is no way to run a country.
73
And now we have Ted Cruz - a recreation of Joe McCarthy incarnate.
Given other analyses of voter sentiment, and their polarization, this one seems to be saying there is a plague on both sides.
Maybe we need to rethink the party system and go back to at large elections when our "representatives" would have to represent more of us.
Maybe we need to rethink the party system and go back to at large elections when our "representatives" would have to represent more of us.
3
This astute analysis raises the question, Why have Republicans become more conservative? There are many reasons, of course, but one that stands out is the politicalization of religion. The upshot of organized religion becoming more involved with the political process, a phenomenon advanced by the policies of the Trump administration, is a hardening of adherents' views on moral issues set forth by those institutions. Until the role of religion in American politics is scrutinized as much as that of gerrymandering or other dynamics, a complete understanding of contemporary politics will be elusive.
64
So the crucial question is, how can this situation be remedied?
As in so many things, California is showing the way. Its "nonpartisan blanket primary" system, which finally became law in 2010 after several attempts, holds a single primary election across both parties, with the top two finishers proceeding to the general election regardless of which party they are in. In 2014, six California House districts saw general elections between two Democrats, while two districts chose between two Republicans.
The effect of this process in hyperpartisan districts is that it provides a path for moderates to win. Independents and moderates can support moderate candidates from either party in the primary, and the full gets electorate a real choice in the general election, even in districts where one-party rule has been the norm for decades.
Nonpartisan blanket primaries are good for America, and citizens should fight for this change to be made in every state.
As in so many things, California is showing the way. Its "nonpartisan blanket primary" system, which finally became law in 2010 after several attempts, holds a single primary election across both parties, with the top two finishers proceeding to the general election regardless of which party they are in. In 2014, six California House districts saw general elections between two Democrats, while two districts chose between two Republicans.
The effect of this process in hyperpartisan districts is that it provides a path for moderates to win. Independents and moderates can support moderate candidates from either party in the primary, and the full gets electorate a real choice in the general election, even in districts where one-party rule has been the norm for decades.
Nonpartisan blanket primaries are good for America, and citizens should fight for this change to be made in every state.
29
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I'm going to attribute the extreme tilt of some areas to rabid, uninformed conservatism to the rise of a right-wing fake-news media that was specifically designed to pull the country to the right.
There's the Washington Times, founded by Sun Myung Moon, there's Fox News, and there's RushLand, otherwise known as talk-radio. With the ending of the Fairness Doctrine, all of these are free to blather and misinform, which they do daily with great gusto. Their power has been ignored by the Left for far too long, and the left never responded by creating its own media structure to combat that of the right and to advance its own views.
It's been proved repeatedly that those Americans whose primary news source is Fox are the most misinformed (Not "un" informed, but "mis"informed.) consumers of news in the country.
Trump is temporary. The right-wing propaganda structure is permanent, and much more dangerous.
There's the Washington Times, founded by Sun Myung Moon, there's Fox News, and there's RushLand, otherwise known as talk-radio. With the ending of the Fairness Doctrine, all of these are free to blather and misinform, which they do daily with great gusto. Their power has been ignored by the Left for far too long, and the left never responded by creating its own media structure to combat that of the right and to advance its own views.
It's been proved repeatedly that those Americans whose primary news source is Fox are the most misinformed (Not "un" informed, but "mis"informed.) consumers of news in the country.
Trump is temporary. The right-wing propaganda structure is permanent, and much more dangerous.
157
I agree completely. Left and Centrist minded politicians and media people must create a ubiquitous structure to defend the truth. While Fox and Rush listeners will never listen to, read or believe what the Left and Center have to say, Independents and young people who are still open to hearing the facts could make a real difference in 2018 and 2020.
3
With net neutrality in the Trump administration's crosshairs, more corporate influence and wealth-supported dissembling in dissemination of news and views is about to be unleashed.
4
@Vesuviano
You are correct: the ending of the fairness doctrine allowed Fox News and Rush-land to sprout and grow, spewing their toxic hatred across middle America. But establishing comparable left-progressive media won't work. Progressives are not into authoritarianism, tribalism, and hatred-of-others. Fake news sites get far more hits if they are right-wing versus left-wing (a reporter tracked down the author of a site that posted "Pope supports Trump" days before the election: he was a registered Democrat who found he made more money with right-wing garbage).
So, we need to re-introduce the Fairness Doctrine, but lots of luck since the GOP will never allow that
You are correct: the ending of the fairness doctrine allowed Fox News and Rush-land to sprout and grow, spewing their toxic hatred across middle America. But establishing comparable left-progressive media won't work. Progressives are not into authoritarianism, tribalism, and hatred-of-others. Fake news sites get far more hits if they are right-wing versus left-wing (a reporter tracked down the author of a site that posted "Pope supports Trump" days before the election: he was a registered Democrat who found he made more money with right-wing garbage).
So, we need to re-introduce the Fairness Doctrine, but lots of luck since the GOP will never allow that
I take issue with the idea that republicans are more conservative than ever due to the very fact that they ended up voting for Trump in the primaries and general election. Many things that Trump espoused on the campaign trail were not conservative at all. Calling for restrictions on free trade, alluding to possible expansion of Medicaid for those who could not afford insurance but needed it, he never talked much about abortion, and he openly embraced support of the LGBT community (if any was offered). As far as religious/social values go, there's no difference between Donald Trump and Howard Stern. Why did so many republican voters vote for Trump, even in the primaries, rather than more conservative candidates? Personality. They were attracted to a strong, politically-incorrect, bully who relished in calling his opponents 'liars', 'dummies', and 'crooked'. Re-tweeing an "ugly" photo of his opponent's wife only won him more support. That brashness drew them in the same way that a schoolyard bully will always be able to count on a handful of spineless 'friends' who want to be in his orbit, at least until the next bigger bully comes around.
10
To many voters they saw in Trump what thy wanted to see. His many positions on an issue left them free to believe that his position was their position.
Still, events rather than ideology shape our elections. The great airy boom of the 20's elected Herbert Hoover; the Great Depression elected FDR; in our own era the Iraq War and the Great Recession swept the GOP out of power and elected Barack Obama. Mr. Trump precipitates his own events; let us hope these events continue to be great American lessons that shape our politics for the better. And let us hope they avoid military catastrophe.
8
The thing that drives the GOP is of course not some philosophical predilection on the part of voters, but the right wing media industry. The Republican party has become utterly dependent on that industry, just as individual politicians are perpetually threatened by it. It defines whatever is happening "in Washington," no matter how ideologically right-wing, as a dangerous leftist threat to be countered. That is its marketing strategy. It is not an ideology or set of beliefs. Republicans believe in nothing; they simply pursue this marketing strategy, and markets always have winners and losers.
24
The important date is 1997 when Fox News and other conservative media began to replace more traditional news reporting for many Republican supporters. A classic disinformation system, it offered conservatives the option to insulate themselves from critical facts and opinions.
In the early 2000s the system was enhanced with internet and social media, and an alternative to traditional mainstream voices, the Echoplex, was born. It led to the Republican purification of 2010 when many in the mainstream lost to Tea Party supporters and the 2014 reelection bid loss of the second most powerful Republican in the House, Eric Cantor.
It was this system that Vladimir Putin’s intelligence agencies decided to coopt, initially to split the world’s most successful democracy, then to try something more ambitious - Putin recognized that conservative voters, increasingly angry, afraid, and ready to blame someone (classic propaganda objectives) were now prepared to take the final step, demanding a strongman to keep them safe. The answer? Donald Trump. The Russian hack made it difficult for any other Republican candidate, even the most extreme, to win the 2016 Republican primaries, and largely unrecognized by the Democrats or the press, the election itself.
In the early 2000s the system was enhanced with internet and social media, and an alternative to traditional mainstream voices, the Echoplex, was born. It led to the Republican purification of 2010 when many in the mainstream lost to Tea Party supporters and the 2014 reelection bid loss of the second most powerful Republican in the House, Eric Cantor.
It was this system that Vladimir Putin’s intelligence agencies decided to coopt, initially to split the world’s most successful democracy, then to try something more ambitious - Putin recognized that conservative voters, increasingly angry, afraid, and ready to blame someone (classic propaganda objectives) were now prepared to take the final step, demanding a strongman to keep them safe. The answer? Donald Trump. The Russian hack made it difficult for any other Republican candidate, even the most extreme, to win the 2016 Republican primaries, and largely unrecognized by the Democrats or the press, the election itself.
26
For the sake of argument let's imagine that Trump makes it through the next three years and eight months. The damage he does is largely confined to the poor and the lower income echelons of the middle classes who are encouraged as they always have been in the past to blame themselves and the Democrats. The economy sputters along, the rich continue to reap the benefits of Laffer style trickle down economic policies and everyone else is expected to be grateful for the occasional crumb and the fact that somehow the nation wasn't plunged into Depression.
Foreign affairs becomes largely a procession of near misses, dodged bullets and international embarrassments each time President Creamsicle opines on any given crisis, actual or impending. But finally it's over and Trump announces a la Johnson that he will not seek nor will he accept his party's nomination for a second term (too hard, people are mean, he did a terrific job and accomplished in four years more than Roosevelt in fifteen' etc, etc, ad nauseam).
I don't have a defined idea of what will happen from that point other than the clear conviction that this man will have cleared the way for the triumph of philistinism at the national executive level for at least a generation. He will have made his incompetence, mean-spiritedness, I'll will and willful and proud allegiance to ignorance a normality at the highest level.
Foreign affairs becomes largely a procession of near misses, dodged bullets and international embarrassments each time President Creamsicle opines on any given crisis, actual or impending. But finally it's over and Trump announces a la Johnson that he will not seek nor will he accept his party's nomination for a second term (too hard, people are mean, he did a terrific job and accomplished in four years more than Roosevelt in fifteen' etc, etc, ad nauseam).
I don't have a defined idea of what will happen from that point other than the clear conviction that this man will have cleared the way for the triumph of philistinism at the national executive level for at least a generation. He will have made his incompetence, mean-spiritedness, I'll will and willful and proud allegiance to ignorance a normality at the highest level.
17
What will happen, David, is that the Democrats will create a new cottage industry of appealing to the WWC. Sanders is already implying that women ought to dial it back on the reproductive freedom thing so that Joe six pack will "come back" to the Democratic Party.
They've always done this to some extant but capitulating to the right will be all they ever do under your scenario. For this reason, and other more important reasons, Trump and the Republican Party have to be totally destroyed by their own stupidity and reaction to say nothing of a resistance beholden to neither corporate party. They can not be allowed to make it to 2020 intact and with a credible narrative of having "acheived something".
They've always done this to some extant but capitulating to the right will be all they ever do under your scenario. For this reason, and other more important reasons, Trump and the Republican Party have to be totally destroyed by their own stupidity and reaction to say nothing of a resistance beholden to neither corporate party. They can not be allowed to make it to 2020 intact and with a credible narrative of having "acheived something".
Linda--Sanders is not a Democrat and he can imply all he wants but the reproductive freedom thing is not going away, especially if he uses it as a tool to primary Democrats.
Where was mentioned in this essay the influence of money in the process? It is as if it played no part in the machinery, and yet it is the hand behind the whole greasy process.
Is it deniable that what results as legislation is largely a result of whose influence has paid for it ? The electorate has increasingly been forced into an "either-or box of lessor evil" choice of politicians who are beholden not to those electors as much as to the sources of the vast sums of money needed to compete in a campaign. This is also to a large extent why Bernie Sanders was/is so appealing and such a threat to the status quo.
Is it deniable that what results as legislation is largely a result of whose influence has paid for it ? The electorate has increasingly been forced into an "either-or box of lessor evil" choice of politicians who are beholden not to those electors as much as to the sources of the vast sums of money needed to compete in a campaign. This is also to a large extent why Bernie Sanders was/is so appealing and such a threat to the status quo.
18
All too accurate, and the question is how can this dysfunctional situation be reversed? As several have commented, the degree to which money now saturates our political system is unprecedented, and is largely behind all this. Yet, those who benefit from the money are the only ones who can change it. For a sickening view on how the US political process now functions watch "Get Me Roger Stone" on Netflix. That documentary makes painfully clear just how cynical our politics has become, and precisely how those with no ethical or moral grounding, seeking only power and personal gain, take full advantage by literally any means necessary of the ignorance, fear, anger, and greed of the electorate. It will require an awakening on the part of millions of voters to break this fever, and with radical media fanning the flames 24/7 it is hard to see how that can begin.
9
Two disturbing points made in this commentary:
What havoc will a desperate Trump create the more he is threatened?
Actions taken by incumbent Representatives and Senators are first and formost ruled by the effects on their reelections
What a fine mess of self-serving folks which special interests groups have purchased to govern us.
What havoc will a desperate Trump create the more he is threatened?
Actions taken by incumbent Representatives and Senators are first and formost ruled by the effects on their reelections
What a fine mess of self-serving folks which special interests groups have purchased to govern us.
18
You have to look no further than state run media Fox News and right wing talk radio to understand what's happened in the last 20 years. Along with "leaders" like Trump, they have created a climate where Democrats are not political opponents, but enemies. Enemies that not only must not be negotiated and cooperated with, they must be destroyed. Trump has even called the media "enemies of the people".
Breitbart has gone from a fringe right wing propaganda spewer to having someone at the highest levels of government. I think we need to realize this situation will turn dangerous sooner rather than later. Impeaching Trump may be just the beginning of our problems, not the end. An eventual failed state.
Breitbart has gone from a fringe right wing propaganda spewer to having someone at the highest levels of government. I think we need to realize this situation will turn dangerous sooner rather than later. Impeaching Trump may be just the beginning of our problems, not the end. An eventual failed state.
65
We need term limits in the house and senate. Two terms for senate, three terms for house and you cannot run for the job you had in the district you had it a second time.
I used to think the house needed longer terms but now I am counting the minutes until I can vote for anyone other than Rodney Frelinghuysen in 2018.
I used to think the house needed longer terms but now I am counting the minutes until I can vote for anyone other than Rodney Frelinghuysen in 2018.
8
This is a long overdue analysis of the Republican Problem. Republicans had every option to nominate a qualified candidate and didn't. Yes, they have slowly shifted farther and farther to the right, but really, why? On the other side, the Dem side, why the infighting, the lack of support? There has to be much more to Mike Pence, Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell and others in the Trump circle of leadership. Our VP did terrible things to his home state as Governor, so why does he seem an option in the media eye? Russia, control of "caucuses" and other undemocratic methods of nominating a candidate for the highest office need to be explored. The then Republican Party chairman now sits in a cozy White House seat. Deals? Right wing, slanted news outlets like Fox have been slowly and methodically working towards electing this President, this VP and this Congress, and we have every reason to ask why.
10
"Republicans had every option to nominate a qualified candidate and didn't" . . . ? Who, for example, out of that clown-car full of ninnies we were treated to during the primary season, was even remotely qualified for the job? For two federal electoral cycles now, the Republicans have trotted out throngs of self-serving, ignorant vulgarians whose actual purposes in running included campaign contribution-funded book tours, cult promotions, self-aggrandizement, justification and compensating for highly public previous failures in other sectors, and so on. They were running to cash in on get-rich-quick campaign contributions which need not be returned or even much-accounted for. The Republicans no longer have the slightest respect for the office of President; based on the candidates for nomination they offer, Republicans plainly believe that the office is purely ceremonial and can be figure-headed by any damn fool who lucks into it. Evidence? We now have the damn fool to top all damn fools occupying the Oval Office.
While Mr. Edsall's thesis is nothing new, he states it with precision and elegance. This is an issue that is far greater than political partisanship. The rise of social media, "news" outlets such as Fox, talk radio, gated communities, and geographical "self-sorting," among many other factors, have all contributed to the competing echo chambers that have replaced our political dialogue. Underlying it all, however, is our culture of rampant narcissism, which, among other things, posits that one need never have unpleasant experiences, particularly those that involve interacting with people who are different from us. This is no less true, by the way, of urban liberals, than it is of working class whites. Even in a city as big and diverse as New York, it's quite possible to construct a bubble that excludes and even demonizes "those people" (whoever they happen to be).
4
As a Kentuckian, I am deeply ashamed of our state’s senior senator and his sphinxlike silence regarding Trump’s growing list of atrocities and errors. I shudder to think what might have happened during the Watergate scandal if McConnell had been Senate majority leader.
16
Agree on McConnell. And now his wife on the trump dole is holding CA hostage on federal grants for the south bay area train system upgrade. Her excuse that "CA is getting more money than other states" would be merely maddening (hello... we are also a donor state in federal income taxes paid!) if it were not such obvious partisan punishment of a state that overwhelmingly votes democratic.
Meanwhile, I looked at the accompanying photo of Clifford Case and thought "where did you smart well-meaning republicans go?" Look at the group now-- from howdy-doody ryan to confederate jeff sessions to pasty Mitch-- and one can be physically ill.
Meanwhile, I looked at the accompanying photo of Clifford Case and thought "where did you smart well-meaning republicans go?" Look at the group now-- from howdy-doody ryan to confederate jeff sessions to pasty Mitch-- and one can be physically ill.
Republicans would be smart to opt for an independent commission to investigate the Russian connections and any cover-ups. That way they can stand clear of the fallout and they won't get the blame for hurting their party. The hearings can be televised and they won't be on camera.
1
As a Democrat I have to admit that the Republican Party scares me death and makes me angry, but I can cite a lifetime of good reasons : The illegal invasion of Cambodia, Watergate, Iran-Contra, the Iraq war, the drowning of New Orleans and the Great Recession, to name a few.
What can Republican's cite? Those evil Democrats want to help "those" people, raise taxes on Rich people and take away my Guns. Ridiculous.
What can Republican's cite? Those evil Democrats want to help "those" people, raise taxes on Rich people and take away my Guns. Ridiculous.
14
"What can Republican's cite?" Roe vs Wade, which removed an important issue from democratic control because they didn't like the way the electorate were voting. What's more, it set a precedent for removing other losing issues from the electorate.
Exactly.
.... And I didn't even mention Donald Trump.
"I got elected to serve the forgotten men and women and that's exactly what I'm doing."
Really? That's doublespeak if ever I have heard it.
His health care plan and tax plan only help the 1%. His health care plan certainly does NOT help the elderly or women.
Really? That's doublespeak if ever I have heard it.
His health care plan and tax plan only help the 1%. His health care plan certainly does NOT help the elderly or women.
I am generally more inclined to follow issues concerning Latin America, but this article in my opinion is a "must read" for anyone following the nuances of the U.S. political landscape.
2
Taking these wise and useful comments together with Mr. Friedman's column yesterday, is not the Democratic playbook clear: to relentlessly force Republicans to either cooperate in exposing Trump's lies and absurdities, or to defend him. The biggest danger is "normalization," an implicit "recentering" of our sense of what is acceptable and normal. Trump's conduct -- virtually all if it -- is neither normal nor acceptable. Democrats must be very clear on this and keep up the pressure, and MUST translate this to the core job of winning elections. If electors remain unmoved when faced with the truth of what is happening, then we really are in deep trouble.
8
This is a fasinating anaylsis and explains a lot. I can't help but think a huge factor in all this is the rise of talk radio where the right has waged a relentless war on liberals and given those who used to be predisposed to moderate a reason to fear and hate the other side. Thank you Rush and company. In addition, when companies discovered there was money to be made in partisan news reporting, you suddenly had Fox News and far right web sites to complete the echo chamber. I don't know what the answer is but we need more moderate voting districts so more politicians need support from voters from both sides.
6
It is mind numbing to consider that the GOP would look past a president sharing classified secrets with the enemy in order to remain in power.
They should be looking over their shoulders.
They should be looking over their shoulders.
7
I continue to be Amazed by columnist after columnist, pundit after pundit, who seem to never put their finger on the thing that has helped push the Republicans farther & farther to the right, has come up with litmus tests for candidates reminiscent of the witch hunts in communist Russia & turned their viewers/listeners Angry & Mean - Yes it's Fox-Faux News & Conservative Radio. Ronald Reagan getting rid of the Fairness Doctrine has been a Disaster for the Republican Party & even more so for OUR Country. To the best of my knowledge there aren't conservative groups & media around the world who fail to believe in the Existence of Climate Change. Because of Fox & Conservative radio they have put the Paris Accords in jeopardy & any further actions to further diminish the carbon footprint of the U.S. & thru our Leadership getting other countries to follow us.
And lets face it Moscow Donald is the Frankenstein Monster & Fox-Faux News & Conservative Radio are collectively Dr. Frankenstein his creator. And lets not forget that Air America, which was supposed to be a Liberal version of Conservative radio, FOLDED. I never listened to Air America because I did not want to listen to angry Liberals what I want is Real News & one of the places I go to get that is, Democracy Now, with the tireless News person Amy Goodman as host.
So even though I liked Mr. Edsall's Op-Ed I'm again perplexed that he made no mention of the twin demons - Fox-Faux News & Conservative radio.
And lets face it Moscow Donald is the Frankenstein Monster & Fox-Faux News & Conservative Radio are collectively Dr. Frankenstein his creator. And lets not forget that Air America, which was supposed to be a Liberal version of Conservative radio, FOLDED. I never listened to Air America because I did not want to listen to angry Liberals what I want is Real News & one of the places I go to get that is, Democracy Now, with the tireless News person Amy Goodman as host.
So even though I liked Mr. Edsall's Op-Ed I'm again perplexed that he made no mention of the twin demons - Fox-Faux News & Conservative radio.
13
This is what gerrymandering brings. It must end. It's bad for both parties and bad for our country.
3
in other words.. no one cares about the country. The politicians just want to get reelected and the Democrats and Republicans just want their own agenda.
2
Live by the sword, Die by the sword. Let's here it for the sword sharpeners. It is not that I hat the GOPso much , I use to be a Republican, it is just that the party has become so beholden to the 1%, to corporations that enrich them selves at the expense of the general population. When did they become so selfish... REAGAN. That myth has yet to be undone and shown in the light of day where things started to go wrong..
3
I read a novel some years ago--"The Young Lions." It features three young men (unknown to each other) who are caught up in World War II.
In one scene, American GI's are advancing against the Germans. They hit a snag. An enemy machine gun nest (hidden across a river) is peppering them with gunfire. They're pinned down. Someone has to stand up--attract enemy fire--so his buddies can pinpoint the nest.
At this point (all smiles and medals) a staff officer arrives in a car. "Hi guys! I was hoping to find some souvenirs--maybe a German helmet or something." Deadpan, they gesture to the river. "Plenty of helmets down there, sir!" The man strolls down to the river. In a moment, his bullet-ridden body falls over dead. "I pinpointed that guy's position," says Ackerman. Another burst of gunfire--and the Germans are wiped out.
"Well," they tell themselves. "For all his comfy life style back at headquarters, the man was a soldier. And soldiers have to die for their country. Sometimes. It's expected of them."
Hey, you senators and politicians out there! That goes for you. Every now and then, your country expects that you LAY ASIDE your dreams of reelection and do what's best for the United States of America.
Otherwise--what are you there for?
In one scene, American GI's are advancing against the Germans. They hit a snag. An enemy machine gun nest (hidden across a river) is peppering them with gunfire. They're pinned down. Someone has to stand up--attract enemy fire--so his buddies can pinpoint the nest.
At this point (all smiles and medals) a staff officer arrives in a car. "Hi guys! I was hoping to find some souvenirs--maybe a German helmet or something." Deadpan, they gesture to the river. "Plenty of helmets down there, sir!" The man strolls down to the river. In a moment, his bullet-ridden body falls over dead. "I pinpointed that guy's position," says Ackerman. Another burst of gunfire--and the Germans are wiped out.
"Well," they tell themselves. "For all his comfy life style back at headquarters, the man was a soldier. And soldiers have to die for their country. Sometimes. It's expected of them."
Hey, you senators and politicians out there! That goes for you. Every now and then, your country expects that you LAY ASIDE your dreams of reelection and do what's best for the United States of America.
Otherwise--what are you there for?
5
sore winners
a pox on both their houses
so TP folks and progressives:
what happened to the anger of a decade ago at the do nothing Congress?
a pox on both their houses
so TP folks and progressives:
what happened to the anger of a decade ago at the do nothing Congress?
1
The GOP is reaping what they have sown. Tea Party, Hastert Rule, gerrymandering, etc. have given them the House, the Senate, and the Presidency. Look at the leaders that have emerged from those machinations. Weak, complacent,and self-congratulatory men and women who bow to party and money now seem to be the norm. They have everything, but they still cannot govern. They cannot work for the good of the nation. Term limits and maybe getting rid of Citizens United might help both parties, but when you depend on stacking the deck as the GOP has done, you will only succeed in weakening the bones of your own party. Good article.
6
Early Dole, moderate an political deal maker. Late Dole, rabid republicans only anti anything. The precursor of the current Majority leader.
3
The GOP has no respect for Obama's presidency. Right out of the gate McConnell declared it was the GOP's sole aim to make him a one term president. Then closing out his second term McConnell then declared the GOP wouldn't co operate with Obama appointing a supreme court judge regardless of circumstances. In between he masterminded an unprecedented filibustering campaign to block all Obama legislation regardless of merit.
Now they're deliberately using Obama as a foil to deflect attention to their treasonous malfeasance. How treacherous can they get?
Now they're deliberately using Obama as a foil to deflect attention to their treasonous malfeasance. How treacherous can they get?
6
All the more reason for Democrats and Independents to vote in Republican primaries when they can and oppose the creatures bent on destroying this country.
3
One thing to take into account in these measures and graphs is where the middle is. As the left has gone further left on social agendas, especially LBTQ rights, I think, the "the middle" moves. So that people who now call themselves conservatives might have called themselves moderates twenty-five years ago. The social agenda has moved very very fast for some people. As a leftist liberal and a baby boomer, I know that even I sometimes have trouble adjusting how I think about certain issues to make room for changing times on my compass.
Edsall is spot on.
We have essentially branded politics into rival teams - and played on emotion to brand them. Democrats and Republicans are like Yankees/Red Sox. Your team is your team, and not much more thought goes into it for many people. The other team are losers.
The parties, the GOP particularly effective, stoked the branding with wedge issues and over the top rhetoric, and they did it on purpose. Divide and conquer. Abortion is one biggie, but the threat that Democrats will take away all your guns is another. Establishing a death match fight between the definition of religious liberty as freedom of religion versus freedom from religion is a third. Guns, God and Gays. Good governance was never a goal.
Edsall sums up the weapons in the quiver - ideology, geographic sorting, gerrymander, partisanship and emotional buy-in - as concisely as I have seen. But while the branding is ruthlessly on target, the actions are not. Most of what is being accomplished by the ruling class actually hurts the people who are represented. But as long as the wedge issue is address - keep your guns, close
Planned Parenthood - the reality that actions could poison your water or kill your region's economy remain hidden.
How do you get people to recognize that there is no actual legitimacy to being a fan of one team and loathe another? Both are just businesses, and neither actually care about you - they are in it for the bucks.
We have essentially branded politics into rival teams - and played on emotion to brand them. Democrats and Republicans are like Yankees/Red Sox. Your team is your team, and not much more thought goes into it for many people. The other team are losers.
The parties, the GOP particularly effective, stoked the branding with wedge issues and over the top rhetoric, and they did it on purpose. Divide and conquer. Abortion is one biggie, but the threat that Democrats will take away all your guns is another. Establishing a death match fight between the definition of religious liberty as freedom of religion versus freedom from religion is a third. Guns, God and Gays. Good governance was never a goal.
Edsall sums up the weapons in the quiver - ideology, geographic sorting, gerrymander, partisanship and emotional buy-in - as concisely as I have seen. But while the branding is ruthlessly on target, the actions are not. Most of what is being accomplished by the ruling class actually hurts the people who are represented. But as long as the wedge issue is address - keep your guns, close
Planned Parenthood - the reality that actions could poison your water or kill your region's economy remain hidden.
How do you get people to recognize that there is no actual legitimacy to being a fan of one team and loathe another? Both are just businesses, and neither actually care about you - they are in it for the bucks.
2
A percentage of population is schizophrenic. A percentage of human population is narcissistic. A large percentage of population votes entirely in their self interest. Just a hair under 50% of the voting public is below average intelligence. The chance for Republicans is to lead, to do what's right, or to continue to rally masses of people to vote against their own self interest.
2
A few years ago I heard Laurence Lessig, who is working to repeal Citizens United, speak. He made the point that dark money can have a particularly powerful and pernicious impact on primary elections, particularly on those elections that can exacerbate the polarization in our country.
This leads to this question: Who benefits when polarization occurs? Those who want to cripple the government, those who want fewer regulations, those who want to suppress the wages of workers and/or compromise their working conditions. and those who are happy to see a government that is divided and dysfunctional. The anti-governmentprofiteers are happy to support candidates who focus on transgender bathrooms instead of focussing on issues of real import. Maybe a future column can look at who is funding these right-wing primary candidates and why.
This leads to this question: Who benefits when polarization occurs? Those who want to cripple the government, those who want fewer regulations, those who want to suppress the wages of workers and/or compromise their working conditions. and those who are happy to see a government that is divided and dysfunctional. The anti-governmentprofiteers are happy to support candidates who focus on transgender bathrooms instead of focussing on issues of real import. Maybe a future column can look at who is funding these right-wing primary candidates and why.
52
Exactly
Government is the only institution that can put its thumb on the scale to balance against the power of virtually limitless private capital. From 1932 to the end of the Johnson Administration government did just that. Manufactured cultural issues of race and religion came to outweigh economic issues (Southern Strategy) and led inexorably to Donald Trump and the growth of white nationalism as well as Christian Dominionism.
Government is the only institution that can put its thumb on the scale to balance against the power of virtually limitless private capital. From 1932 to the end of the Johnson Administration government did just that. Manufactured cultural issues of race and religion came to outweigh economic issues (Southern Strategy) and led inexorably to Donald Trump and the growth of white nationalism as well as Christian Dominionism.
1
We need term limits. Fear of not being reelected should not be the primary concern of a politician. We also need an end to gerrymandering. Congressional districts should adhere as close as possible to county boundary lines.
10
Demographics tell politicians that HS or some college White men over 60 who live in suburbs are the heart and soul of Republican electorate. Trump and Republicans lost minorities, millennials, and women, and most urban voters.
Fear, Islamophobia, racism, and science denial were integral to Trump and Republican victories in 2016. Generating more fear, racism, Islamophobia, ignorance, are essential to Republican victories in 2018-20. In the meantime, issues like healthcare, student debt, retirement, and events related to climate change will erode Republican support. Time has informed voters that Obamacare has helped them, their immediate family, and slowed the decline of employer based insurance and the premium inflation that preceded it. The pro-life women who voted against Clinton will confront scientific evidence that life does not begin at conception but can be started from skin cells anytime and can be produced and born in laboratories. Weather events, rising sea levels, weather refugees, declining water availability will escalate.
Republicans are the party of entropy. They use our reactive emotions to motivate fright responses. Republicans openly advocate selfishness and decry generosity, collaboration, and community while promoting greed, racism, and subordination of women. As boomers age out of the workforce, become dependent on Social Security, and as Millennials are burdened with debt, Government by, of, and for the people will be restored, by necessity.
Fear, Islamophobia, racism, and science denial were integral to Trump and Republican victories in 2016. Generating more fear, racism, Islamophobia, ignorance, are essential to Republican victories in 2018-20. In the meantime, issues like healthcare, student debt, retirement, and events related to climate change will erode Republican support. Time has informed voters that Obamacare has helped them, their immediate family, and slowed the decline of employer based insurance and the premium inflation that preceded it. The pro-life women who voted against Clinton will confront scientific evidence that life does not begin at conception but can be started from skin cells anytime and can be produced and born in laboratories. Weather events, rising sea levels, weather refugees, declining water availability will escalate.
Republicans are the party of entropy. They use our reactive emotions to motivate fright responses. Republicans openly advocate selfishness and decry generosity, collaboration, and community while promoting greed, racism, and subordination of women. As boomers age out of the workforce, become dependent on Social Security, and as Millennials are burdened with debt, Government by, of, and for the people will be restored, by necessity.
9
Mr Edsall is far and away the best writer in the business.
Our system of governance has been hijacked by the political parties whose membership is focused maniacally on re-election. Congress abdicated its role in governance long ago in favor of its role in winning elections determined by small electoral turnouts.
The problem is that Americans really don't seem to care. Bread and circus still placates the masses. That coupled with demons to vilify and you have today's republican primary voter ... and today's republican primary voter is the most reliable segment of the electorate to actually cast his or her ballot.
So, we are in a political death spiral unless either (a) the missing pragmatic centrists become leaders who can somehow motivate the electorate to care about governance once again, or (b) we have an amendment to the US Constitution to mandate term limits to every elected office.
Not much hope of either, so buckle your seat belts.
Our system of governance has been hijacked by the political parties whose membership is focused maniacally on re-election. Congress abdicated its role in governance long ago in favor of its role in winning elections determined by small electoral turnouts.
The problem is that Americans really don't seem to care. Bread and circus still placates the masses. That coupled with demons to vilify and you have today's republican primary voter ... and today's republican primary voter is the most reliable segment of the electorate to actually cast his or her ballot.
So, we are in a political death spiral unless either (a) the missing pragmatic centrists become leaders who can somehow motivate the electorate to care about governance once again, or (b) we have an amendment to the US Constitution to mandate term limits to every elected office.
Not much hope of either, so buckle your seat belts.
11
I blame the public relations industry and the big money that finances their contributions to our politics. Those PR folks are very good at what they do; so good we often don't realize they're at work manipulating our opinions.
The news media are ill-equipped to resist this flow of "information." They simply do not have the resources to do deep reporting by people with deep knowledge of their subjects.
I don't see the equivalency between Democrats and Republicans when it comes to shaping public opinion. Democrats are just not as good at it.
I don't hate and fear Republicans; they are my neighbors. But, I do think they are dangerously mistaken in their prescriptions for what ails the country.
The news media are ill-equipped to resist this flow of "information." They simply do not have the resources to do deep reporting by people with deep knowledge of their subjects.
I don't see the equivalency between Democrats and Republicans when it comes to shaping public opinion. Democrats are just not as good at it.
I don't hate and fear Republicans; they are my neighbors. But, I do think they are dangerously mistaken in their prescriptions for what ails the country.
8
I think the newspapers and the tv entertainment shows are part of the big-money public relations industry though.
Re. "I don't see the equivalency between Democrats and Republicans when it comes to shaping public opinion. Democrats are just not as good at it."
The Democratic media and comedians are trying their hardest though. They simply do not understand when the jokes fall flat, the stories are full of nothing, and the true facts go unreported. (Who did kill Seth Rich, then? Where is his computer laptop? Would it really kill the parents to learn that their son was a "leaker", if the facts of the case indeed go there? Why not ask these questions, and follow up with the wikileaks links? Why not? The young man deserves the truth, even in death...)
If the DNC had listened to the American voters, perhaps Hillary might not have been the nominee. Leaked debate questions, dismissive assessments of former Democratic voters, a refusal to concentrate on the map of the country... eventually, the public relations media will understand that politicians can not be carried across the finish line. Politicians need to do the public relations work too. Democrats as well as Republicans.
Re. "I don't see the equivalency between Democrats and Republicans when it comes to shaping public opinion. Democrats are just not as good at it."
The Democratic media and comedians are trying their hardest though. They simply do not understand when the jokes fall flat, the stories are full of nothing, and the true facts go unreported. (Who did kill Seth Rich, then? Where is his computer laptop? Would it really kill the parents to learn that their son was a "leaker", if the facts of the case indeed go there? Why not ask these questions, and follow up with the wikileaks links? Why not? The young man deserves the truth, even in death...)
If the DNC had listened to the American voters, perhaps Hillary might not have been the nominee. Leaked debate questions, dismissive assessments of former Democratic voters, a refusal to concentrate on the map of the country... eventually, the public relations media will understand that politicians can not be carried across the finish line. Politicians need to do the public relations work too. Democrats as well as Republicans.
To answer the last question, whatever he does it will not be good for the rest of us. Of course when the Dumpster rolls out of bed in the morning it inflicts pain on the nation so my answer doesn't say much. I realize this is pre-confirmation bias, but the conclusion that can be drawn from this excellent piece is that there won't be a Democratic sweep, regardless of how badly Trump further destroys the nation. His supports are uneducated, not very curious and tied to myths about the apocalypse. See you in about 2040, maybe. That's my over under for change. Well I probably won't be around then so have fun if you make it.
6
Since Edsall only has a certain number of characters to devote to each column, we understand why all the bases couldn't be covered, so we would add that the rise in polarization led by GOP'ers like Newtie Gingrich (note that Edsall's data mentions 1992 as the real advent) coincides with the flood of campaign cash.
In particular, note Edsall's point about the watershed 2010 election, which matched with SCOTUS's Citizens United decison that allowed cranks with cash to fund cranks who pursued political offices, and didn't need to really please more than one campaign contributor (tongue-in-cheek observation).
Excess cash in political campaigns from moneyed cranks is just as dangerous as what lurks in djt's tax returns.
In particular, note Edsall's point about the watershed 2010 election, which matched with SCOTUS's Citizens United decison that allowed cranks with cash to fund cranks who pursued political offices, and didn't need to really please more than one campaign contributor (tongue-in-cheek observation).
Excess cash in political campaigns from moneyed cranks is just as dangerous as what lurks in djt's tax returns.
72
Yes the danger is the same whether the coercive influence is done by a handful of Oligarchs from our country or another. Until we defeat the influence that Citizens United has we will continue to be open to manipulation by small groups of rich and or powerful people no matter where they hang their hat.
2
Senate leader McConnell refused to consider Obama's supreme court nomination arguing that a year remaining in his presidential term was insufficient time. He also argued that a Clinton presidency would be treated the same way if she was still under FBI investigation. But he had no problem ramming through trump's nomination even though this president is under FBI investigation. There's something really amiss here.
274
maybe something amiss here but I don't see anyone doing anything to resolve it!! on either side of the aisle...bigly sad.
1
For decades now, the Republicans have followed their voters not led them, and in their party the formulation of policy to benefit the country has taken a backseat to the creation of marketing slogans designed solely to elicit votes. The "debate" about Obamacare is a perfect example. The Republicans have had dozens of anti-ACA slogans for years, but clearly no notion of a healthcare policy. Forced to actually govern, the best they can do is produce bullet-point lists (their tax plan is a perfect example) that most resemble the talking points given to them by political marketing consultants like Frank Lutz. This strategy has been effective in winning votes, but it's made America dumb, shallow and increasingly dysfunctional. When some future Edward Gibbon writes the history of the decline and fall of the American empire is written, the Republicans and their marketing consultants will be the villains.
37
Interesting that political scientists, who are data driven, can seem to confirm theories of both sides -ism in current American politics. But there is difference between being afraid of bigots and bigots' fear of decent people. There is a difference between compassion for people throughout their entire lives and compassion only for the unborn. There is a difference between those of us who believe that healthcare is a human right and those who believe that it is a privilege or a commodity for purchase according to one's wealth. There is a difference between wanting to eradicate poverty and believing that poverty is one's own reprehensible fault. There is a difference between the sermon on the mount and social Darwinism. Fear, frustration, and anger as scales of equivalence tell us little about what is important.
186
There is a difference between people who earn money and people who only cash checks where the funds are provided by others.
1
Midway, you've seen this, haven't you?
"Our observation: The less-than-500 counties that Hillary Clinton carried nationwide encompassed a massive 64 percent of America’s economic activity as measured by total output in 2015. By contrast, the more-than-2,600 counties that Donald Trump won generated just 36 percent of the country’s output—just a little more than one-third of the nation’s economic activity."
In other words, the people who voted for Trump (no doubt including the "keep the government off my Medicare!" folks), ARE the people "getting checks" rather than earning them. See, also, red state/blue state divide by amount of $ received from the federal government versus the amount sent.
"Our observation: The less-than-500 counties that Hillary Clinton carried nationwide encompassed a massive 64 percent of America’s economic activity as measured by total output in 2015. By contrast, the more-than-2,600 counties that Donald Trump won generated just 36 percent of the country’s output—just a little more than one-third of the nation’s economic activity."
In other words, the people who voted for Trump (no doubt including the "keep the government off my Medicare!" folks), ARE the people "getting checks" rather than earning them. See, also, red state/blue state divide by amount of $ received from the federal government versus the amount sent.
13
In other words there is a difference between those who take the words of Christ seriously, whether they are Christians, Muslims, Jews, agnostics or atheists, and those who vociferously profess to be Christian but whose Bibles seem to lack the Sermon on the Mount as well as most of the parables of Jesus.
1
Great analysis.
I am as liberal as it gets. But I am a registered Republican to participate in the primaries. I urge liberals to sign up to for the Republican Party to influence their position.
Conservatism is important to political discourse. The Conservative mantra of for example "less taxes" and "less government" represent positions in a spectrum that must be discussed on a bi-partisan basis. We know the two extremes of the spectrum are called Communism and Plutocracy - neither desirable.
Big business and unlimited money actually may be calling for a more liberal view. The long term future of the economy requires global trade, immigration, diversity of ideas, etc. Companies that provides goods and services that represent the future (unlike the mature industries of the Koch's) will hopefully step up. They will have more money than the dying industries of the Koch's. The future is of course, as an example, clean energy, driverless cars, ubiquitous communication, etc.
I am as liberal as it gets. But I am a registered Republican to participate in the primaries. I urge liberals to sign up to for the Republican Party to influence their position.
Conservatism is important to political discourse. The Conservative mantra of for example "less taxes" and "less government" represent positions in a spectrum that must be discussed on a bi-partisan basis. We know the two extremes of the spectrum are called Communism and Plutocracy - neither desirable.
Big business and unlimited money actually may be calling for a more liberal view. The long term future of the economy requires global trade, immigration, diversity of ideas, etc. Companies that provides goods and services that represent the future (unlike the mature industries of the Koch's) will hopefully step up. They will have more money than the dying industries of the Koch's. The future is of course, as an example, clean energy, driverless cars, ubiquitous communication, etc.
14
Conservatism is not a cogent philosophy, it is emotionalism rationalized, completely reactionary and useless to us as a nation. The last 140 years of our history have shown this time and time ad nauseam. That people are inculcated to embrace the right to assuage their personal deficiencies is one of modern cultures greatest problems.
4
Mr. Edsall, your columns are always substantively interesting and worth reading. (As an aside, your use of the word 'titrate' is a gem in this column.)
One aspect of the problem, it seems to me, is that persons elected (from both parties and however noble their motives) quickly transform service as elected representatives and senators into professional political careers. The tempting formula of power, prestige, and enrichment is a formidable elixir that mitigates against serving the national or even the local interest. Couple this with an electorate that is willfully under-educated and ill-informed and, therefore, gullible and easily polarized, and we end up with Donald Trump as president. Whose election, I can only hope, means we have hit rock bottom. But the cynic in me says: perhaps not.
One aspect of the problem, it seems to me, is that persons elected (from both parties and however noble their motives) quickly transform service as elected representatives and senators into professional political careers. The tempting formula of power, prestige, and enrichment is a formidable elixir that mitigates against serving the national or even the local interest. Couple this with an electorate that is willfully under-educated and ill-informed and, therefore, gullible and easily polarized, and we end up with Donald Trump as president. Whose election, I can only hope, means we have hit rock bottom. But the cynic in me says: perhaps not.
14
Remember Alvin Toffler, author of "Future Shock" almost fifty years ago, predicting that change would start coming at us disorientingly faster and faster. Toffler's crystal ball was accurate. Some citizens (urban, college-educated, progressive) adapted to future shock far better than others (fill in the blanks).
7
Two models of representation have always competed for dominance in the American political system. The founders' generation, highly skeptical of democracy's heavy reliance on the wisdom of the average voter, fashioned a constitutional system they thought would limit the role of the electorate and ensure the dominance of an informed and economically independent elite. Every two years, the voters could decide if members of the House had adequately represented them, but they would exercise minimal influence over the actions of senators and the president.
The rise of political parties, however, created organizations that could effectively mobilize voters to support particular candidates, whose continuance in office depended on their support for a party's agenda. Even the president and senators increasingly owed their elections to party support, eroding the independence that Madison's generation considered vital to good government.
This new model of representation enhanced job security but ironically cost elected officials the respect of their constituents, a trend which often discouraged elite Americans from pursuing a political career. Still, those politicians, like Lincoln, who combined deference to the voters with a firm commitment to a sometimes unpopular agenda, could still achieve greatness.
Edsall's analysis, unfortunately, helps explain the further decline of congress. A polarized electorate may not reward the independence of thought demanded by integrity.
The rise of political parties, however, created organizations that could effectively mobilize voters to support particular candidates, whose continuance in office depended on their support for a party's agenda. Even the president and senators increasingly owed their elections to party support, eroding the independence that Madison's generation considered vital to good government.
This new model of representation enhanced job security but ironically cost elected officials the respect of their constituents, a trend which often discouraged elite Americans from pursuing a political career. Still, those politicians, like Lincoln, who combined deference to the voters with a firm commitment to a sometimes unpopular agenda, could still achieve greatness.
Edsall's analysis, unfortunately, helps explain the further decline of congress. A polarized electorate may not reward the independence of thought demanded by integrity.
14
The fact of the matter is that the founders never realized the future importance of political parties. They thought the big conflicts would be between branches of the government and harnessed it into a system of checks-and-balances. They never anticipated, for example, that a runaway president would be protected from impeachment because Congress and the President were of the same party.
1
I did did a scary "back of the envelope" calculation yesterday. Donald Trump's approval amongst the public is below 40%, but 82% of Republicans still support him. If the numbers are linear, Trump would have to poll under 23% with all voters before he'd be under 50% with Republicans. Indeed, to get to a worse than 50% disapproval approval rating would require over 80% of the general public to disaprove of Trump. Now remember those Republicans are packed into gerrymandered districts, where likely Democratic votes are often suppressed.
No matter how manifestly unfit Trump is for office, no matter what he does, before 2018, twenty eight Republicans house members would have to vote to impeach, and 18 Republican Senators - even if the Democrats take the House in 2018 and pick up 2 senators, 16 Republicans would have to go against party.
No matter how manifestly unfit Trump is for office, no matter what he does, before 2018, twenty eight Republicans house members would have to vote to impeach, and 18 Republican Senators - even if the Democrats take the House in 2018 and pick up 2 senators, 16 Republicans would have to go against party.
24
I think there there is a key difference between the parties at present. The Democratic Party harbors and is tolerant of a much greater spectrum of political views, ranging from say the very conservative Joe Manchin of West Virginia to say Sherrod Brown.
By contrast, the Republican Party has become fiercely intolerant of anyone who fails to March in lockstep with the party, labelling them RINOs. Only the modern Republican Part could have conceived of the infamous "K-Street Project," where law-firms were pressured to fire their Democratic lobbyist during the early Bush administration; only the Democrats would have failed during the 2008-10 period when it could, to have paid the Republicans back in their own coin. Indeed, only the Democrats would have let the probably0criminal politicisation of the justice department under the Bush administration go too.
Fear is an issue - it's true. But a key aspect of `Republicans in Washington DC seems to be their sense of impunity - the the Democrats will always "look forward, not back." Maybe it's time to change that.
By contrast, the Republican Party has become fiercely intolerant of anyone who fails to March in lockstep with the party, labelling them RINOs. Only the modern Republican Part could have conceived of the infamous "K-Street Project," where law-firms were pressured to fire their Democratic lobbyist during the early Bush administration; only the Democrats would have failed during the 2008-10 period when it could, to have paid the Republicans back in their own coin. Indeed, only the Democrats would have let the probably0criminal politicisation of the justice department under the Bush administration go too.
Fear is an issue - it's true. But a key aspect of `Republicans in Washington DC seems to be their sense of impunity - the the Democrats will always "look forward, not back." Maybe it's time to change that.
30
"The Democratic Party harbors and is tolerant of a much greater spectrum of political views" Really. I read just last month that they were complaining because they "let in" abortion opponents who made them take abortion funding out of Obamacare.
1
No! I would rather die and be buried a compassionate man than be screwed into the ground like a spiteful conservative Pub.
They let them in....my point, and yours?
Yet, the overwhelming influence of money, from the incessant need to raise campaign cash to the billions spent by lobbyists who essentially write the legislation, has also come close to completely corrupting Congress. An acquaintance of mine is a Massachusetts Congressman. He has faced Tea Party Republicans in the last couple of elections and has defeated them, but the amount of time spent on raising funds along with the constant barrage by lobbyists means that very little time is actually spent on constituent services. I feel that living in Massachusetts is a bit like living on an oasis in an arid desert because at least we have a modicum of progressiveness. I truly fear for our country.
79
The analysis is fascinating but one important point is not mentioned. That is the over-sized effect of mega campaign contributions (think Koch and Adelson for starters) forcing candidates into a box unless they eschew the funds, guaranteeing they will not win.
67
Makes for simple campaign theme development: fear- anxiety- doubt. Essentially, the elements of intolerance and racism. Regrettably, the dependence of the GOP on dispondent, unhappy and streesed people is seminal to their politic. The problem is that paranoid people have fights and are more than happy to go to war (even though they deny it).
3
Along with geographic sorting and gerrymandering, don't forget the Hassert Rule. Legislation is brought to the house floor unless it has enough Republican support to pass. So rather than legislation that might pass with moderate Republican and centrist Democrat support, the only legislation proposed is that with far right Freedom caucus support. Compromise is harder because of the Hassert Rule.
110
Party discipline made the Hastert rule work for Republicans. It also contributed to making their ideology more rigid.
Any of us can make lists of what Republicans believe on a wide range of subjects. Those beliefs aren't particularly conservative, but lining up with the party is needed if a politician wants to be reelected.
This is one area where the Democrats do it too. We've seen recent arguments about whether a Democrats is sufficiently "pure" to deserve party support. It's definitely part of the problem.
Any of us can make lists of what Republicans believe on a wide range of subjects. Those beliefs aren't particularly conservative, but lining up with the party is needed if a politician wants to be reelected.
This is one area where the Democrats do it too. We've seen recent arguments about whether a Democrats is sufficiently "pure" to deserve party support. It's definitely part of the problem.
1
And as a footnote, recall what we have now learned about Hassert.
Good point.
The statistic missing here is that the ultra-righties as a group are getting smaller everyday. Just notice how the millennial's voted. If only they had voted the country would be blue from sea to shining sea.
It is something of a false equivalence to compare both sides as you get fairness and inclusion on the one hand and bigotry and hate on the other. The Grand Old Pirates and something of a dying breed. They must be resisted till they are no more.
It is something of a false equivalence to compare both sides as you get fairness and inclusion on the one hand and bigotry and hate on the other. The Grand Old Pirates and something of a dying breed. They must be resisted till they are no more.
126
The GOP's years of gerrymandering districts into twisted pretzels of political convenience have led them, and all of us, to the place Mr. Edsall describes. However, the GOP cannot gerrymander its way out of an unethical and dangerous president, irresponsible legislation and budgets, and implementing policies that hurt even its duped base.
The tide is turning and this ineffective Congress and incompetent president are the ones turning it. Their reign of error is coming to a close. 2018 will be the start of the Great Unraveling of today's GOP which, as Mr. Edsall implies, looks nothing like the more rational party of days past.
The tide is turning and this ineffective Congress and incompetent president are the ones turning it. Their reign of error is coming to a close. 2018 will be the start of the Great Unraveling of today's GOP which, as Mr. Edsall implies, looks nothing like the more rational party of days past.
26
Except that something like 90% of Trump voters still think he's doing a fabulous job!
There are 2 changes that need to happen to decrease polarization in the US and return it to rationality: 1. An end to the gerrymandering that creates these highly polarized districts that elect highly polarized candidates. 2. An end to Citizens United that allows the Kochs and Mercers of the country to push that polarization further for their own ends. Otherwise, I'm very afraid the US will move from its role as a guiding model for the world to just another petty oligarchy.
340
I'm afraid the Republicans have no interest in e ding gerrymandering or unlimited corporate influence in elections. If the elections were fair, free, and less influenced by big money, Republicans would never have majorities . The only way for them to gain control is by rigging the rules to their own advantage. One other thing should be considered: limit the election cycle to 3 months or less. It didn't take 18 months or longer to figure out who to vote for. And that way maybe elected officials could, um, govern. What a novel concept.
1
It already has.
1
Agreed but don't place any large bets on either one of those happening.
1
The GOP taught their voters to hate too well. They hate the government, hate government workers, hate minorities. They hate healthcare for all, (especially for ovaries). They hate foreign aid, they hate most of the rest of the world. They hate regulations and regulatory agencies that keep them safe.
They even hated their own party so much they rejected every established politicians and vote for Donald Trump.
They even hated their own party so much they rejected every established politicians and vote for Donald Trump.
373
You forgot about science, universities, the press, free lunches, organic produce, exercising, their gardeners and maids, and the very idea of a civil and civic society where we are all in this together.
Don't know who they think built that nice road outside their home so they could go to the library and log onto Brietbart.
Don't know who they think built that nice road outside their home so they could go to the library and log onto Brietbart.
5
I disagree. The Republican Party did not "teach" their voters to "hate too well." The GOP's elected members are merely conduits for the preferences of their voters. Thus, the GOP has become more conservative because their voters have moved farther to the right. And there the GOP will remain until enough of their voters moderate their hatred of Democrats.
This excellent analysis of why craven Republicans continue to keeps their gobs firmly clampled on the subject of Trump (at least in public, I'm lookin' at you Kevin McCarthy), is fascinating, yet fails to draw its obvious conclusion.
Which is that we can no longer expect Congress to do the right thing – or any thing for that matter – of their own accord. Republicans will only turn on Trump when it becomes clear that continuing to support him will cost them their jobs.
Apathetic moderates of both parties put Trump in office by staying home on election day. It is now up to them to undo their error by telling their representatives in no uncertain terms that they will not tolerate tacit support for an unhinged lunatic in the oval office.
Until soulless Republican representatives fear the moderate majority they represent more than Trump's vocal, low-information rabble minority, nothing will change.
45% of eligible voters didn't fear Trump enough to bother voting in November. Surely, after the past 120 days of insanity, there is some level of regret. They must turn that regret into action, or doom the Republic to a continued downward spiral.
Which is that we can no longer expect Congress to do the right thing – or any thing for that matter – of their own accord. Republicans will only turn on Trump when it becomes clear that continuing to support him will cost them their jobs.
Apathetic moderates of both parties put Trump in office by staying home on election day. It is now up to them to undo their error by telling their representatives in no uncertain terms that they will not tolerate tacit support for an unhinged lunatic in the oval office.
Until soulless Republican representatives fear the moderate majority they represent more than Trump's vocal, low-information rabble minority, nothing will change.
45% of eligible voters didn't fear Trump enough to bother voting in November. Surely, after the past 120 days of insanity, there is some level of regret. They must turn that regret into action, or doom the Republic to a continued downward spiral.
18
Want to eliminate the rightward list in the Ship of State? America needs three-and-a-half times the current number of representatives in the House of Reps. That’s the number required to get the PEOPLE'S input into the legislative process to the level it was in 1911, when Congress FROZE the number of Reps at 435.
Note, please, that In the ensuing 106 years money and legislative jiggery-pokery have made the House more and more like the Senate: an operation based on territory, personalities, lobbying, 'legal' manipulation and $$$ rather than the will of the population. That ain't right.
OF the People, BY the People, FOR the People means the Senate and the House NEED to effectively counterbalance each other, people against territory; that's the way our Constitution was conceived. If we allow the current situation to persist--and it worsens as the Country's population grows as the denominator in a fractional representation--we will persist in serving up helping after helping of America's common wealth to ravenous corporations and mentally starved gazillionaires.
Let's get out the vote, sure enough, but let's consider resetting the House of Representatives so every two years a cleansing burst of freshly elected PEOPLE surge through the Old White Boys Government Pipeline. Let's enjoy constitutional democracy as originally conceived, please, not as the oligarchy, plutocracy or autocracy a minority of people prefer. Let's have that goal.
-
Note, please, that In the ensuing 106 years money and legislative jiggery-pokery have made the House more and more like the Senate: an operation based on territory, personalities, lobbying, 'legal' manipulation and $$$ rather than the will of the population. That ain't right.
OF the People, BY the People, FOR the People means the Senate and the House NEED to effectively counterbalance each other, people against territory; that's the way our Constitution was conceived. If we allow the current situation to persist--and it worsens as the Country's population grows as the denominator in a fractional representation--we will persist in serving up helping after helping of America's common wealth to ravenous corporations and mentally starved gazillionaires.
Let's get out the vote, sure enough, but let's consider resetting the House of Representatives so every two years a cleansing burst of freshly elected PEOPLE surge through the Old White Boys Government Pipeline. Let's enjoy constitutional democracy as originally conceived, please, not as the oligarchy, plutocracy or autocracy a minority of people prefer. Let's have that goal.
-
14
The Republican Party today benefits only the .01%.
They don't govern
They don't lead
Tax breaks for the wealthy and neglect of infrastructure and the destruction of the environment is not policy it is psychopathy
They don't govern
They don't lead
Tax breaks for the wealthy and neglect of infrastructure and the destruction of the environment is not policy it is psychopathy
198
When a majority of Americans realize that on the morning of January 20, 2017, they woke up in an oligarchy and that an oligarchy and a democracy are mutually exclusive, then it will become clear why Republicans have worked so assiduously to prevent entire classes of people from voting.
The media needs to stop portraying our nation in terms that obfuscate. Yes, we have a special counsel. Yes, Republicans in Congress are still doing things in Trump's defense. Mike Pence headed up Trump's transition. Will he go down as well? Bannon? What about Paul Ryan and Kevin McCarthy, who made light of the Trump-Putin relationship in a recording uncovered by WaPo. Who knew and when did they know I more importantly, who, in Congress help Trump by selling us out of our Democracy?
Watergate will seem petty if Mueller does thing right.
http://www.rimaregas.com/?s=Oligarchy
The media needs to stop portraying our nation in terms that obfuscate. Yes, we have a special counsel. Yes, Republicans in Congress are still doing things in Trump's defense. Mike Pence headed up Trump's transition. Will he go down as well? Bannon? What about Paul Ryan and Kevin McCarthy, who made light of the Trump-Putin relationship in a recording uncovered by WaPo. Who knew and when did they know I more importantly, who, in Congress help Trump by selling us out of our Democracy?
Watergate will seem petty if Mueller does thing right.
http://www.rimaregas.com/?s=Oligarchy
136
Among the actions I alluded to is this one, taken yesterday by Congress, after the Comey memo was leaked and before the special counsel was announced:
GOP again rejects Dem effort to force release of Trump’s tax returns
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/333968-gop-rejects-effort-to...
As for Kevin McCarthy and Paul Ryan?
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) made an explosive claim about Donald Trump during a 2016 conversation between GOP leaders. http://wapo.st/2qxUTKb
GOP again rejects Dem effort to force release of Trump’s tax returns
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/333968-gop-rejects-effort-to...
As for Kevin McCarthy and Paul Ryan?
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) made an explosive claim about Donald Trump during a 2016 conversation between GOP leaders. http://wapo.st/2qxUTKb
37
The Oligarchy's been in place since at least the Bush 'victory' and Citizens United.
3
Joanne,
We've been moving in that direction but according to the same researchers Edsall quotes here, we became a plutocracy in 2014 and more recently, also according to a newer study by them, in 2017. I quote from them here:
http://www.rimaregas.com/2017/05/establishment-republicans-liberals-the-...
We've been moving in that direction but according to the same researchers Edsall quotes here, we became a plutocracy in 2014 and more recently, also according to a newer study by them, in 2017. I quote from them here:
http://www.rimaregas.com/2017/05/establishment-republicans-liberals-the-...
1
This is a fairytale.
Republicans will do exactly what charles and david koch tell them to do...PERIOD.
Their fear of koch funded primaries is foremost in their minds...PERIOD.