posted December 30, 2006 05:00 PM
Who's A "Fake" Democrat/Republican?Richard Crowley, an editor at the New Republic, has an article in SLATE calling Zell Miller a "fake Democrat," "a cartoonish GOP partisan" who has committed "treason" against the Democratic party.
Crowley argues, quite unsuccessfully in my opinion, that Miller became the odd man out of the Democratic party not because the Democrats moved so far to the left, which Miller and his new Republican allies claim, but rather because Miller himself moved so far to the right.
I don't agree, but my real objection is to the easy assurance that Miller is a "fake" Democrat, and also to the identical accusations heard from virtually every Democratic (and hence establishment media) platform this week that Arnold and Rudy and even McCain aren't "real" Republicans because they support abortion or gay rights or gun control.
Leave aside the problem of whether media observers have the authority, or knowledge, to pontificate on who is a "real" Republican or Democrat. More interesting is the undeniable fact that these days the Republican Party's tent is much bigger than the Democrats', that the Republican Party is much more "diverse," if you'll pardon the expression, than the Democrats. I haven't looked closely lately, but the last time I looked I think somewhere around 15% to 20% of the Republicans in the Senate supported abortion rights. A similar number have supported racial preferences, more support various strong environmental measures, gun control, etc., etc. How many Democrats, in either body, oppose abortion, racial preference, gun control? When was the last time such a Democrat, if there any left, was invited to speak at a national convention? (See here for a discussion of how the Democrats treated one of their most impressive governors in 1992 and 1996.)
But let's return to Crowley and his "fake" Miller. To say that Zell Miller is a "fake" Democrat, despite his refusal to change parties, is to say that people with his views are not welcome in the Democratic party. Has Crowley checked out Brad Carson, who's running for the Senate in Oklahoma on a platform that one would be hard-pressed to distinguish from mainstream or even conservative Republicanism. If Miller is a "fake," shouldn't Carson change parties?
When I was much younger and even less wise than I am now (I know it's hard to believe that's possible), I used to think we'd be much better off if all the conservative Democrats became Republicans and all the liberal Republicans became Democrats. The condition we're in now just goes to show you that you should be careful what you wish for.
Lindaland
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posted December 30, 2006 05:00 PM