Mainstream or Homogenized

I've usually had a good opinion of Reuters News Service. I rank them second to McClatchy. This Reuters article, "Democratic Split on Iraq May Hurt '08 Chances," published today and written by David Alexander changes all that. Here's the lede paragraph:

"Failure to end the Iraq war has so divided Democrats it could jeopardize their chances of consolidating power in U.S. elections in November 2008, analysts said."

And this is the third paragraph:

"Centrists, concerned about alienating conservative voters in swing districts, are wary of moving too precipitously, the analysts say."

Who are the analysts, you ask? Well, one is Ethan Siegal, who works for The Washington Exchange. The Washington Exchange monitors Congress for institutional investors.

This from Matthew Woessner, a political expert at Pennsylvania State University:

"It will be the Democratic left, which is probably immune to any news of success in Iraq, against the middle-of-the-road America"

Mr. Woessner goes on to claim:

"A nightmare scenario for any party is when the pressure, the sum total of the pressures from their constituency groups, are out of step with mainstream America. That's a prescription for electoral disaster."

First, Democrats have never been united. You put five Democrats in a room and you'll get six opinions. It's just not in our genes. What the chattering class sees as a 'split,' is the every-day ebb and flow of opinions in an open and inclusive party. Furthermore, new progressives have become more relevant because their principles resonate with more and more Americans.

These people miss the point that there is no center anymore. Using the phrase, "middle-of-the-road America," or "mainstream America," is like saying "homogenized America." I have NEVER met an adult citizen who had no opinion on anything political.

Demonizing progressives in the Democratic Party may make good copy in DC, but is almost irrelevant everywhere else. Sure there are plenty of "Bush-dog Democrats" in Congress, but in many parts of the country, their constituents are way ahead of them. In other cases like Oklahoma's second district, the incumbent sometimes appeals to the prejudices found among his rural supporters.

IMO, the people of the United States are not on a political horizontal axis. They're all over a political compass; the full 360 degrees and with and infinite range of passion on each slice of the circle.


"Human progress is neither automatic or inevitable." -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.