George Bernard Shaw famously noted that “Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.” A dreadful thought to contemplate, indeed.
There is no denying we also are offered the candidates we deserve. In this election, the top contenders are near-perfect reflections of the spirit of their respective parties.
Both parties are in the midst of a major overhaul. But just one group happens to know it. After a bitter and hard-fought primary, Democrats have found the message and they’ve found a dynamic presence to sell it.
The Republicans? Well, they’re busy pulling together strands of a frayed coalition, ready to embark boldly in no particular direction at all.
The Democrats will nominate Barack Obama, the first African- American candidate in history (a fact we should celebrate regardless of political affiliation). Obviously, this factor will infuse the Democratic Party with an even higher sense of purpose.
The Republicans? They’ve nominated a Washington insider who, ironically, few in Washington particularly like.
The Obama nomination — whether his starry-eyed fans will admit it or not — has the Democratic Party shifting sharply leftwards. On foreign policy, economics and trade, long-held party positions are dumped. The dispatching of Hillary Clinton, perceived as the more (and I can’t believe I’m typing this) moderate candidate, is the manifestation of a successful left-wing grassroots insurgency.
Many of Obama’s positions will surely enrage the Republican rank- and-file — a passion they can’t seem to stir up for their own candidate. Some claim that Republicans are facing a defeat of epic proportions — most of it their own doing.
As Professor Alan Abramowitz of Emory University observed on “CrystalBall ’08,” it’s “likely that the Republican Party is dealing with the dreaded ‘triple whammy’ in 2008: an unpopular president, a weak economy and a second-term election.”
There are fates worse than losing. Talk to any historically astute conservative and they will point to 1964 and Barry Goldwater’s “glorious disaster” to Lyndon Johnson as the most consequential election of their movement.
Political fortunes, history tells us, are constantly in flux. Where Republicans go is as important as where they are. With no palatable enthusiasm or guiding purpose, they are headed nowhere right now.
The vigorous debates ongoing within the conservative intellectual (no, it’s not an oxymoron) movement — on trade, immigration, taxes, Iraq, etc. — are telling. It’s difficult to craft a message when you don’t know what the coalition stands for. Harder, still, when your party regularly discards the principles you do agree on.
With this turmoil in the background, and the “triple whammy” in the foreground, Republican primary voters chose the path of least resistance, hitching their ride to a known quantity and the least annoying candidate they could unearth.
Who knows? McCain may pull this out. Many political observers — perhaps in a fit of wishful thinking — have prophesied an Obama landslide. Like anyone, Obama comes with plenty of baggage and, unable to win a landslide within his own party, a national rout might be asking a lot.
Then there is the fact that Americans vote party and ideology over person.
The trouble is too many partisans are terrified of losing. Their loyalty is unconditional. They believe every election is the end-all. Voters forget that candidates come and go. Every one of them believes that they, and only they, can alter history and transform the world.
In reality, another insufferable primary season will kick off in three years. There will be another rebranding. Another savior. Another vision. And plenty of terrible candidates to choose from.
Or, who knows, for Republicans, a candidate they can actually get excited about.
Reach columnist David Harsanyi at 303-954-1255 or dharsanyi@denverpost.com.
