The Extremists Among Us Fleeing to the Middle.

Eli,

It seems like every left-wing commentator claims the Republicans are extreme or insane. (Yes, insane. Andrew Sullivan in the latest Newsweek writes Obama is the next Reagan and will jolt "the GOP back to sanity.")

It seems also every right-wing commentator attributes similar characteristics to the Democrats.

What I find odd about these remarks is they seem to divorce the parties from the populace. The left will say the Republicans can't win since they are driven by the extreme Tea Partiers. How then did the Republicans re-take the House in 2010? The right will say the Democrats can't win unless they shift to the center. How then did Obama win the White House and have a good chance for a second term?

As I've told you, I'm reading "Throes of Democracy" by Walter McDougall. The election of 1872, it seems to me, is instructive for our divisive times.

In 1872, Grant won “with largest percentage of the popular vote (55.6 percent) garnered by any candidate between Andrew Jackson and Theodore Roosevelt.

"The border states had declared themselves sick and tired of sectional conflict and most northerners replied, "So are we.” Grant heard vox populi when he lowered the military profile in the South... So did the Democrats, who demanded an end to Reconstruction and pledged not to overturn its amendments and laws. In other words, everyone fled for the middle.“

Grant potentially faced two opponents in 1872. Horace Greeley was nominated by “liberal Republicans” who “wanted to liquidate sectional conflict so that American could get back to building their glorious future.” The Democrats also nominated Greeley since they lacked a viable candidate.

Grant's first term followed Andrew Johnson, the first President to be impeached, although acquitted by the Senate. Johnson was in open warfare against the Republican majority in Congress over the nature of Reconstruction. Grant's first term did little to assuage the raw feelings of the American public. Like today, both sides called the other extreme and like today, the politicians merely represented the beliefs held by the public.

Ultimately, the public got tired of their extremism and their polarization, decided to get back to building their glorious future and fled to the middle. I don't know if the same will happen this election, but it will at some point.

Bill

Posted with Blogsy