The Political Divide

Are we in a unique moment in political history? Why are political parties so polarized? Does Republican strength merely make Democrats bitter, or are Democrats' bitter attacks founded in fact -- or rather, the Republicans disregard for facts?

The New Donkey says ...

"We haven't really seen anything like this in recent U.S. political history, and that's why Democrats have to not only fight these people, but understand and outsmart them. The stakes are getting higher every day."

In my view, Democrats are experiencing the frustration many Republicans experienced in the early 90s when folks like Ed helped Clinton steal lots of "Republican" issues and redefine them as part of a progressive agenda. The Sui Generis part didn't start with Bush, it started with Gingrich and Delay's response to Clinton. They couldn't stand the fact that he outsmarted them, and so resorted to name-calling every Democrat a lying scoundrel. They couldn't attack the policy, so they attacked the person. And in many cases, the only way to attack the person was to distort the facts.

The politics of personal destruction have morphed into the politics of societal destruction -- they don't care what they take down with them, so long as they win.

If Democrats focus on good policy and factual argument, we can win a sustainable victory. But if we fall into the trap of being provoked by what Ed correctly identifies as deliberate Rovian insultswe will make the same mistakes.

There is one lesson to learn from the Republican response to Clinton's victories -- they never ate their young. You never saw Republican leaders vilify Bush I or Dole or Kemp as incompetent losers, but that's exactly what Democrats of all stripes do to their primary and general election also-rans (see Kerry, Gore, Dukakis, even Dean).