1 year ago
72
Richard H. Pildes/NY Times:
Why the Fringiest Fringe of the G.O.P. Now Has So Much Power Over the Party
The Democratic Party shows one way parties can overcome these fragmenting forces that threaten to pull them apart: the specter of major electoral defeat. In the current moment of unity, it is easy to forget the bitter conflicts between more moderate and progressive wings that the party managed to overcome only in the last year.
During those months of internal party bickering, threats and name calling, public approval ratings for President Biden and Congress plummeted. It took the near-death experience of 2021 gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey for progressives to give up their demands and permit the infrastructure bill to pass on its own, eventually followed with an Inflation Reduction Act that had been significantly reduced in scope. One advantage the Democrats had was having control of the White House, which helps discipline a party since members see their electoral fates tied to the president’s success. Fewer of their members also seem more interested in performative politics than legislating.
