In the weeks since Democrats were thumped in the Midterm elections, a lot of pundits have spilled a lot of ink over the whys and hows of the Republican Party’s resurgence.<\/p>\n
One of the narratives that’s been echoing — even President Barack Obama has touched on it — is the notion that Americans don’t like the way things get done in Washington.<\/p>\n
In theory, we’re disgusted by the sausage-making, by the backroom deals, by the arm-twisting and the partisanship that define our nation’s capital.<\/p>\n
Jon Stewart, the arch-pundit of the left, embraced this idea just before the election, throwing a supposedly apolitical, nonpartisan Rally for Sanity on the National Mall.<\/p>\n
But the truth is that American politics have been ugly since America was born.<\/p>\n
And yes, we all complain about attack ads and the amount of money washing around in the system.\u00a0 But is that really what sways our votes?<\/p>\n
Heck no.<\/p>\n
Americans have a long history of voting for the candidates who capture their passions and their aspirations.\u00a0 Secondarily, they want politicians who will get things done and make their lives better.<\/p>\n
In this election, Republicans were rewarded for embracing the frustration and anger that many of us feel, about our jobs, our economy, and the general direction of the country.<\/p>\n
In voting for change, Americans set aside any mamby-pamby concerns about process.\u00a0 After all, this victorious class of Republicans is doggedly, unapologetically partisan.<\/p>\n
And it was their Supreme Court slate who approved changes in our election laws that allowed a flood of anonymous money into the political system.<\/p>\n
John Boehner may possess many virtues that Nancy Pelosi lacked, but bedside manner and lofty political ethics aren’t among them.<\/p>\n
His allies have never made a single gesture toward bipartisanship or can’t-we-all-just-get-along compromise.<\/p>\n
And voters didn’t care one bit.<\/p>\n
Good for them, I say, because that’s not how American politics works.\u00a0 We live in a society divided by serious issues, as well as deep regional and cultural flashpoints.<\/p>\n
If we talk about those things honestly, it’s going to get noisy and ugly. Those distinctions are the life blood of democracy.<\/p>\n
And we embrace conflict in the political arena, because it’s a heck of a lot better than the other forms of conflict that human societies use to resolve their differences.<\/p>\n
Democrats, meanwhile, continue to flirt with the idea of making Washington a more collegial, love-thy-neighbor place for one reason:<\/p>\n
They feel vulnerable and they don’t have a set of clear philosophical principles shaping their policies, and so they want to blur distinctions between themselves and the GOP.<\/p>\n
This is especially true for Democrats serving in red states and more conservative House districts.\u00a0 Many are deeply ambivalent about their party’s more urban, left-leaning approach to society’s problems.<\/p>\n
But I suspect that most Democrats know the truth:\u00a0 They lost not because they weren’t friendly or bipartisan enough, but because people thought the other team could do a better job.<\/p>\n
To win back the House, Democrats should lay out their own policy ideas, describe them passionately, and work to convince voters that their plan for the future is better.<\/p>\n
Republicans, obviously, will fight and scrap to convince us that the opposite is true — and that’s the way it should be.<\/p>\n
I’d suggest that people who want a quieter, more tea-and-crumpets flavor of politics should move to Canada.\u00a0 But the truth is that things can get pretty nasty there, too.<\/p>\n
Your thoughts welcome.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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