Dear Friends,
The Quarter Inch is supposed to be quick commentary on current events. What I’m about to write probably doesn’t fit that bill, exactly, but I hope it will be helpful to you nonetheless.
Our deadlocked, polarized politics is unlikely to change any time soon. One reason for this is that the “moderate” middle is being squeezed from both sides by sizable groups of radicals. Fringes, in the very nature of the case, are unable to garner widespread support—they don’t even try; instead, they exert pressure on their side of the center to drag them toward the fringes. Think of this in terms of two complementary analogies.
I’ve described politics as a football game before. Historically, our left/right politics has been a game of football played between the forty yard lines. Oh, occasionally a side makes a big play and gets the ball into the red zone (e.g., FDR, New Deal), but eventually there’s a turnover and the other team starts making progress the other direction. What we have today are fringes on both sides who insist that one should never settle for that five-yard running play. We must throw Hail Mary long bombs into the end zone on every play. Anything less is cowardice. Case in point: Senator James Lankford recently made the mistake of actually Senatoring. He brokered an immigration bill with bipartisan support that gave Democrats almost nothing of what they historically want (e.g., path to citizenship) and Republicans almost everything they’ve historically wanted (e.g., border wall funding!). House Republicans killed the bill. The reasoning was that if Chuck Schumer supports it, it’s ipso facto intolerable. Never mind that it was the best bipartisan immigration bill the Republicans have ever achieved.
Now we have two games going on. There is a “game within the game.” In addition to playing the actual game of politics, each team simultaneously plays an internal game of tug-of-war. This has always been the case; parties always have internal squabbles over the game plan. The difference today is that the fringes are winning the battle of tug-of-war. The parties are impotent to fend off the “Let’s throw a Hail Mary!” crowd.
An overwhelming percentage of the American electorate supports Israel in its war against Hamas. Even with his poll numbers stuck somewhere in the depths of a trailer park septic system, President Biden cannot give voice to this overwhelming support, for fear of the radical “Free Palestine” wing of his party. An overwhelming percentage of the American electorate supports Ukraine in its fight for survival against Russia. Republicans hoping to win election cannot give voice to this overwhelming support, for fear of the isolationist (and sometimes pro-Putin) wing of the party.
That’s just one example of many and I don’t want to belabor it. I was thinking about this because Mitch McConnell announced that he is stepping down as the Senate Minority Leader. He is one of the most significant and effective Senate leaders in American history (for better or worse, depending on your politics), and the reaction from MAGA world is a perfect illustration of this dynamic. Mitch McConnell understood politics. He understood the game being played. He understood the limitations, the constraints, the need to build a diverse and winning team, when to take what you could get while minimizing downsides. He knew how to squeeze a five yard run even when the running back appeared dead in the water behind the line of scrimmage.
MAGA world thinks Mitch McConnell is a “RINO” squish because he didn’t throw Hail Marys into the end zone at every opportunity. He wasn’t “pure” enough. He didn’t “want it” hard enough. All I can say is that they are going to be really sorry when he’s gone.
Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona just announced she isn’t running for reelection, too. Her reason? She’s a moderate and there isn’t a place for those anymore. The country wants two fringes hurling Hail Marys into the end zones.
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