I absolutely love this description of American politics today.
The Two Moons
By DAVID BROOKS
November 21, 2011, NYT
Brooks says that American bipartisan politics used to be like the sun and the moon. The majority party was the sun and served the interests of the nation by winning the confidence of the majority of voters while the minority party was the moon, waiting for its turn to be the sun.
But beginning in 1996, the political parties began a process of radicalization to such an extreme that there is no longer a Sun Party – just two radical minority Parties. The greatest segment of the voting public is left without representation. President George W. Bush became so widely and deeply disliked that voters punished Republicans in both 2006 and 2008. But Democrats completely misread voter interests and looked at the 2008 election as a mandate for their most extreme progressive agenda. The reaction of voters was immediate and the reaction of Republican partisans was predictably vicious. Unless the Republicans nominate one of their many crazies, we are very likely to see Democrats punished again in 2012 both for the excesses in the 111th Congress – healthcare, Dodd/Frank etc. – as well as for President Obama’s failure to bring the economy under control or forge any bipartisan cooperation. The question is, “Will either the winners or the losers be in any way chastened?”
The column is well worth a read but Brooks’ closing sentence might convey, to some, a far more pessimistic outlook than Brooks actually holds. If you can stand more of this, give Brooks 35 more minutes and watch this interview.
David Brooks
Charlie Rose
Monday, November 21, 2011
Brooks says we have a politics problem not a country problem. We’re in for a bad decade but America will recover because we are fundamentally sound. He alludes to one of my favorite subjects which is that my greedy, selfish and narcissistic generation may need to die off but we will. Our strengths are the same today as they were when Alexis de Tocqueville identified them in the 1830s – and this is especially and importantly true among those under 30.
Brooks says that no other nation in the world embodies social trust in the way that America does. Our ability to build social and business networks with strangers, for the good of the community and economy, is unmatched and will ultimately fix our politics as well.
Brooks – and me too – is hesitant about the push for a third party as advocated by people like Tom Friedman. My objection is the fragmentation that comes with the multi-party parliamentary systems. N is impressed by the new Americans Elect movement but I remain skeptical. It is decidedly unclear whether the candidacies of people like George Wallace, Ross Perot and Ralph Nader – to name three – were a good thing or that a third party would lead to anything better.
One thing does seem clear to me however and that is that if the Republicans actually nominate one of their crazies, huge parts of the American electorate will suddenly put aside their reservations and clamor for an alternative.
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