E.J. Dionne and Rich Lowry exchanged op-ed blows over whether the United States is still a right-of-center nation after the last two years earlier this week.
It's good reading, but I'm not sure you can come up with a final answer to this question, since it is predicated on defining an indefinable center. If you compare us to a developed European nation, well we're obviously culturally to the right of them, and almost certainly will remain politically and economically so despite the recent crisis and governmental intervention. If you compare our political leanings today to where they were 20 years ago, 10 years ago, even five years ago (as Dionne encourages us to do), then we have clearly moved left culturally and politically.
As to Dionne's broader point, that Obama should not be timid about being branded a leftist on issues that matter to voters (especially health care), I agree completely, and I suspect Obama does as well. Here, I think Obama's post-partisan persona will be important, not in terms of his goals, which generally come from the left side of the American political spectrum, but in terms of defining the issue: it won't be, Do you want a righty or lefty health care system?, but rather, Do you want universal health care that is cheaper and as good as what you have now?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment