The Balkanization of the Right

As the midterm elections grow near, Democrats find themselves in near orgiastic elation at the possibility of their capture of one, and possibly both, houses of Congress. This excitement is certainty justified; after all, six years of radical one party government has caused tremendous tensions in the American socio-political fabric. Today's feverish opposition to the Republican party is not inherent to one party rule, but is instead a direct result of the way the Republican majority has chosen to govern.

In today's Washington Post, Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey criticizes the current Republican majority for neglecting its conservative principles at the expense of pandering for votes on the Religious Right. Armey, in the appropriately titled "Where We Went Wrong", asks: "Where did the revolution go astray? How did we go from the big ideas and vision of 1994 to the cheap political point-scoring on meaningless wedge issues of today -- from passing welfare reform and limited government to banning horsemeat and same-sex marriage?". Armey's plea will not go unheard in intellectual conservative circles. Many on the Left have been far too self-referential to explore the recent balkanization of conservatives--an event, it should be noted, that is equally important as whatever electoral or philosophical successes liberals may achieve in the current weeks or months. Ask George Will or William Safire if they're happy with the state of modern conservatism; James Dobson
may give you a similar answer but a radically different rationale.

A balkanized opposition has been the Republican party's greatest natural political advantage over the last fifty years. If the Democrats wish to maintain the Congressional majority they will likely possess after November 7th, they should explore the fissures, dissonances, and ideological conflagrations that are quietly consuming the Republican party. This, coupled with a truly alternative vision for America, will provide not only a moral majority, but a strategic one as well.