Here it is, March 3 and one man pretty much has the entire Democrat nomination sewn up. This happened so cleanly that it could have been Republican primaries. Normally, one can look forward to internecine self-destruction for the Democratic party all the way up through their convention. The strange thing is that, for a very rare change, the wannabes actually didn’t hand enormous amounts of ammunition to the Republicans to use on the Democrat candidate. The biggest “charge” leveled at Kerry by fellow Democrats was that he wasn’t leftist enough!
Now, can you see Bush trying to run a campaign against Kerry like that?
“Don’t vote for John Kerry–he isn’t liberal enough.”
The Republicans have become extremists on a few select issues; they are basically middle-of-the-road on everything else.
The Democrats have become extremists on a few select issues; they are basically middle-of-the-road on everything else.
Meanwhile, Americans who want a middle-of-the-road candidate are totally bamboozled, because either way they get an extremist. Extremists are frustrated because either way they get a middle-of-the-roader.
In one major way, the two parties have switched positions. Democrats were the party of high government spending; Republicans worked for fiscal responsibility. Now the Republicans spend and spend, while the Democrats say we have to be responsible about our spending. Ultimately, both parties have moved to the right and there are no real political liberals any more.
Party of the problem is the fact that voters can’t see beyond their own narrow self-interests. If a candidate doesn’t match their position 100%, they refuse to consider him. If a candidate doesn’t keep the same position 100% consistent over time, it’s considered a fault (changing your mind on any issue is a killer for any politician). If a candidate wants to consider any issue in anything other than binary terms (favor/oppose) he’s condemned as a “waffler.”