"In politics we learn the most from those who disagree with us..."

"The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie--deliberate, contrived, and dishonest; but the myth--persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." - John F. Kennedy



Purple Nation? What's that? Good question.

Neither Red nor Blue. In other words, not knee-jerk liberal Democrat or jerk Republican. But certainly not some foggy third way either.

In recent years partisan politics in America has become superimposed on cultural identity and life style choices. You know - whether you go to church or not, or whether you drive a Volvo or a pickup, or where you live. This promotes a false political consciousness that we hope to remedy here.

There are both myths and truths to this Red-Blue dichotomy and we'd like to distinguish between the two. So, please, read on, join the discussion, contribute your point of view.

Diversity of opinion is encouraged...

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

2008: Not an Ideological Realignment?

Interesting article in today's WSJ on the recent election, putting it in historical context. (article here - subscrip req'd)

Ms. Marisco basically compares the 2008 election with other realigning elections, specifically FDR's win in 1932. She also gives a good comparison of 2008 to 1980, arguing that both elections resulted from the failures of the previous administrations. (I'm not sure FDR wasn't also running against "4 more years of Herbert Hoover.")

In any event, the 2008 election indicates a repudiation of government failures, which implies a desire for competence, not expansion of incompetence. The calls for a New, New Deal are misguided in so many ways, as I have argued previously.

Like Reagan, the shift of independents to Obama is motivated by the candidate and his ability to reassure voters of his competence and leadership qualities. Ideology and positions on the issues are a completely different matter.
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