“Partisanship is a helluva drug,” as they say.
asserted
they → say → ?
When your preferred party is in power, the sun seems to shine a little brighter, the birds sing a little more sweetly, and there’s a spring in your step as you walk past the homeless encampments and sterile single-family-home-only neighborhoods of your American city.
asserted
you → prefer → city
Foreigners from countries where politics is less contentious, like Japan, will never know this joy.
asserted
politics → know → joy
Anyway, this natural partisan sentiment makes it very hard for me to write about developments in American politics.
asserted
me → make → politics
I would like to give you some analysis that’s more informative than “Yay, Democrats won an election!”.
asserted
Democrats → like → election
I do consider myself a Democrat, after all (even though I’m registered as an Independent).
asserted
I → consider → Independent
There has never been a point in my entire life when I’d have told you that the Republican presidential candidate was a better pick than the Democrat (though 2012 was fairly close).
asserted
2012 → tell → Democrat
I regularly bemoan the state of the Democratic Party, but somehow the Republicans always find some way to be Even Worse.
asserted
Republicans → bemoan → way
Disgust and dissatisfaction with both parties have grown, as both have become more extremist.
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both → grow → parties
But there was little they could do except keep voting for the lesser of two evils, while tuning out political news and expressing anger at the whole system.
uncertain
they → be → system
It got so bad that in my New Year’s essay, I even entertained the notion that liberal democracy itself had suffered a generational failure:
To be honest, I still entertain that notion.
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I → entertain → notion
Reading that essay again, there’s not much I would change.
asserted
I → read → essay
But on the margin, recent events have made me feel more optimistic about where American politics is going.
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politics → make → margin
Trump has turned the Republican Party into something truly awful, and it’s refreshing to see America punish the GOP for going along with that transformation:
asserted
America → turn → transformation
But my optimism isn’t just about the fact that Democrats won — it’s also about how they won, and what they seem likely to do with their victory.
asserted
they → win → victory
And there are also some scattered signs that our leaders are starting to take our substantive policy challenges more seriously, instead of just relying on partisanship and culture wars.
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leaders → be → partisanship
Basically, I see three broad positive trends:
asserted
I → see → trends
The Democrats are not becoming extremist at the rate I had feared.
asserted
I → become → rate
The nation is waking up to the problem of corruption, and holding the perpetrators to account.
Liberals, not leftists, are leading the anti-Trump charge
Over the past few years, I’ve watched the emergence of a leftist faction within the Democratic Party, which I’ve likened to MAGA on the right.
asserted
I → wake → right
This faction had its roots in the Bernie insurgency of 2016-2020, but it has grown beyond that.
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it → have → that
The Palestine movement both invigorated the leftists and radicalized them, shifting the locus of power in left-of-center activism away from Black activists, identitarian movements, and anti-capitalism, and toward explicitly anti-American “decolonial” ideas.
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movement → invigorate → ideas
As recently as this summer, I believed that a Democratic victory in the midterms would be led by this hard-left vanguard:
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victory → believe → vanguard
Here’s what I wrote:
asserted
I → ’ → what
Democrats have spent their political capital moving to the left…
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Democrats → spend → left
[They are selecting] candidates who are so far to the left that they end up frightening and/or offending many voters, and then basically daring people to keep voting for the Republicans…
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they → select → Republicans
When DSA-type candidates were just winning in deep blue cities, it was possible to think that they would remain a small, limited faction within the party.
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they → win → party
But Francesca Hong is going to be the Democratic nominee in a statewide race.
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Hong → go → race
So is Abdul El-Sayed, who, while not a member of the DSA, is closely aligned with them (especially on Israel, which he focuses on a lot)
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he → align → which
Francesca Hong was actually defeated in the Democratic primary race just a few days later in a stunning upset, showing that even partisan Democrats aren’t sold on the DSA faction.
asserted
Democrats → defeat → faction
Even more importantly, the hard left didn’t end up leading the anti-Trump charge in the midterms, as I had expected.
asserted
I → end → midterms
Despite the blue wave, most of the high-profile DSA-faction candidates performed significantly worse than their normie Democrat counterparts.
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most → perform → counterparts
Jeff Maurer has great data on this:
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Maurer → have → this
And the same voters who powered the big Democratic victories also endorsed a lot of centrist policies at the ballot box.
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who → power → box
Here’s the Washington Post:
asserted
Post → ’ → ?
Voters in North Carolina elected a Democratic senator…giving former governor Roy Cooper an overwhelming win.
asserted
Voters → elect → win
At the same time, they approved three [Republican] measures…
asserted
they → approve → measures
The first would add a constitutional requirement for a levy limit on property taxes…
asserted
first → add → taxes
The second would cap the state income tax at 3.5 percent…
asserted
second → cap → percent
The third would require photo ID for voting…
asserted
third → require → voting
In Wisconsin, Democrat David Crowley won the gubernatorial election…
asserted
Crowley → win → election
…and 20 more, not listed.
The Aporia
