In Defense Of The Mushy Center

EJ Dionne has a sad piece about the "war on public life."  Most of it is - rightly - about the GOP war on public service, whether it be bureacrats or politicians.  The naked, seething populist movement is a war on all expertise, but with the ability to most directly impact political life.

I worry that the Left has decided to make the same mistake.  They have seen the effectiveness of the GOP's mindset of constant warfare.  Take a look at the gun control issue.  The NRA is a maximalist organization; there is no room for nuance or compromise.  This has made it successful in keeping their legislators in line.  Grover Norquist's anti-tax pledge works the same way.

But those on the Left who would do the same, need to reconcile a few facts.  First, the Left needs government to work, and government works best within the mushy center of compromise.  Thus, efforts by red state Democrats to help small banks (I can't speak to how responsible the new legislation is) is by definition a massive sellout.  It might be.  Then again, it might be an effort to fix a too broad regulation that hurts small banks in it efforts to stop predatory, risky behavior by the large ones.

Second, the left of center is notoriously fractious.  Leftists invented the circular firing squad.  There should be vigorous debate over whether issues of race or gender might be  more important at any given moment.  It is not, however, usually a zero-sum game.  Prioritizing Black Lives Matter this week does not mean that next week #MeToo can't take center stage.  The Right does a good job creating synergy across its various constituencies.  The Left seems tempermentally incapable of doing that; it simply isn't hierarchical enough in its mindset.

The Left has certain structural disadvantages when it comes to elections.  Their voters are clustered in cities, giving them a plurality of the electorate, but impeding their ability to win House seats.  People are reluctant to change, yet leftward movement inevitably involves change (see Obamacare).

The future looks bright demographically for left-leaning politics, but if the Left insists on Purity Tests, they will destroy their ability to govern before they even get a chance.