| That may be one of the reasons. I would certainly say that since we got rid of the Buchananites, the Republican Party has been more cohesive, while the Democrats still exemplify Will Rogers' joke about not belonging to a coherent political party. But it is a little broader: liberal Democrats have a bad attitude towards mainstream America, reflecting their electoral base among minorities. They consider the game to be stacked against minorities, even when the proof is tenuous, and assume that the average white male is voting to protect his privileges. Thus, they tend to be ambivalent about seeking the "greatest good for the greatest number", or generally beneficial policies, and instead look to politicizing the "spoils" in order to make sure that their various constituencies get their cut. That is why they prefer increasing spending to a tax cut: they no more want to give the middle class family of four back its thousand dollars than they want to give several thousand back to an affluent doctor. They want to take in the thousand and allocate it to programs serving blacks, hispanics, gays, or whatever. Thus, the perspective is inherently partisan, rather than national....... |
