The Center Cannot Hold

Behind the wall, Paul Krugman lays out the sad new truth in American politics:

But if the real source of today's bitter partisanship is a Republican move to the right on economic issues, why have the last three elections been dominated by talk of terrorism, with a bit of religion on the side? Because a party whose economic policies favor a narrow elite needs to focus the public's attention elsewhere. And there's no better way to do that than accusing the other party of being unpatriotic and godless [...]

So what should we do about all this? I won't offer the Democrats advice right now, except to say that tough talk on national security and affirmations of personal faith won't help: the other side will smear you anyway.

But I would like to offer some advice to my fellow pundits: face reality. There are some commentators who long for the bipartisan days of yore, and flock eagerly to any politician who looks "centrist." But there isn't any center in modern American politics. And the center won't return until we have a new New Deal, and rebuild our middle class.

Krugman is about the only pundit that understands this. Politics has become divisive not because of a lack of leadership or because everyone just decided to be mean all of a sudden. It's a willful design from a Republican Party that realized long ago that divisiveness is their strategy to win elections. So they turned politics into professional wrestling, waged a 40-year campaign to demonize and smear anyone and everyone that disagreed with them, questioning patriotism and loyalty to country. The "divide and conquer" approach is nothing new, and the truth will always win out as long as the message is effective. But to me, Krugman is explicitly calling out the likes of Joe Biden, whose entire campaign strategy is one of "faith and security." Establishment Dems like Biden will continue to try to reach accomodation with a Republican voter base that will hear absolutely none of it. A politics of contrast, a politics that highlights economic security and lays out the systematic destruction of the middle class in this country, and offers a solution and a way forward, is the only progressive politics that will win. Not Joe Biden screaming "but we're tougher and more faithful!"

National security and foreign policy is of course important, but there has to be a contrast with the status quo, an explanation of how to change the failed policies that have made us more vulnerable and at risk. Otherwise, the myth that a centrist can straddle that line and expect to win is complete horseshit.