The Wall Street Journal’s editorial section today once again grabs my attention. The column, “The Blue Dogs’ Final Dilemma” suggests that the world of moderate politics is dead and that Americans should stop believing in the supernatural powers of ‘across-the-aisle partnerships’. The future of bipartisanship, which once again has failed to progress Obama’s health care plan, is looking dim and dreary as partisanship lines are clearly drawn.
Chris blogged about the sinking trend of moderate voters last month, citing an analysis by Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight.com, that being a moderate is worth only about 2% of the vote in a congressional election.
However, I have to wonder if it all comes down to the simple question the editorial poses:
Do they [the government] work for us, or do we work for them?
How many endless debates and frustrating hours could be saved if we simply recognized that politics can be reduced down to the uncomplicated understanding of how we view government?
Maybe the moderate voter is dead; maybe we all can answer that question without a single reservation or contingency; and maybe partisanship lines are not actually bad?
OK, now what?
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