Rhetoric and reality in Purple America

Krugman nails it [1]: 

Remember how the 2004 election was supposed to have demonstrated, once and for all, that conservatism was the future of American politics? I do: early in 2005, some colleagues in the news media urged me, in effect, to give up. "The election settled some things," I was told. 

But at this point 2004 looks like an aberration, an election won with fear-and-smear tactics that have passed their sell-by date. Republicans no longer have a perceived edge over Democrats on national security - and without that edge, they stand revealed as ideologues out of step with an increasingly liberal American public. 

One of the most predictable offshoots of the 2006 election was how many conservatives closed ranks to scapegoat key Republicans.  It reminds me of that scene in Downfall where just before the fall of Berlin, Hitler blames the German people for failing the test.  It is the mark of all radical ideologues facing failure to blame those around them for not being true enough to their core values.  In this case, supposed conservatives like Rush Limbaugh blamed the Bush admin for not being conservative enough – in other words, conservatives didn’t lose the election, Republicans did. 

Well, it turns out that – shocking, I know – Rush may have overstated American support for the conservative vision [2].  Republicans are increasingly losing control of their own base.  Mormon support, for example, has dropped 21% [3] over the last five months.  Congressional Republicans are increasingly willing to thwart the Bush agenda [4] and have even warmed to the idea of impeachment [5].  Hell, some conservatives have even voiced support for Jimmy Carter to replace Rice [6] as Secretary of State! 

Meanwhile, it turns out that the American people are polling fairly progressively on the basis of issues.  Bigger government, universal health care, and inflating the middle class are all strongly supported by nearly 2-1 margins [1] among the electorate and Democrats now hold nearly a double party ID advantage [7].  As Atrios [8] notes, the GOP can keep trotting out people willing to publicly proclaim mainstream adherence to the conservative worldview, but much like their vision, it simply does not accord with reality.

Comments

mary ska (not verified)Sat, 2007-03-31 00:30

Re: Rhetoric and reality in Purple America

too true too sad and a shame most people seem to be so wishy washy

Cynic the Infotainer (not verified)Fri, 2007-03-30 18:12

Re: Rhetoric and reality in Purple America

Are you saying that Republican control is in it's "last throws?" 

We're definitely due for a swing left. 

 

Michael [10] (not verified)Fri, 2007-03-30 17:49

Re: Rhetoric and reality in Purple America

First off, I'm impressed that you've seen Downfall. Not many have. I saw it not knowing much about it, was totally awestruck and now consider it one of the truly great movies. Also I agree wholeheartedly with your statement: It is the mark of all radical ideologues facing failure to blame those around them for not being true enough to their core values. Of course, those of us on the left face the same temptation. We blame our candidates also -- not so much for lacking doctrinal purity -- but for conducting disastrous campaigns. People were pretty hard on both Gore and Clinton when GW won the first time, and they had it out for Kerry when GW won the second time. (although Clinton's Lewinski business was pretty unforgivable and undercut any chance he had for making a real lasting impact on the American political scene).

Jay DaverthFri, 2007-03-30 18:28

Re: Rhetoric and reality in Purple America

Thanks Michael. And I TOTALLY agree with you about us on the left doing the same thing. Personally, I thought the Kerry/Edwards campaign was rather inspiring to have done so well in the face of what were originally seemingly insurmountable odds. Without a doubt I have my criticism of the way they conducted their campaign, but I think the way the left (as a collective) turned so viciously against them so quickly was rather unfair and placed too much emphasis on hindsight.