Following the death of any purportedly moderate and accommodating politician there is almost always a flurry of largely fanciful opinion pieces wondering how we can foster future similar titans. I found David Winston’s article at Roll Call a pretty fair exemplar of the genre. He recommends moving away from snarky sound bites, more cooperation and compromise, and a press more interested in lighting candles than cursing the darkness.
He’s whistling in the dark. If you want those things, reduce the power of money in our political system and reduce the influence of the national political parties, practically the same thing. The only way you can raise the vast sums being spent these days is to raise it in big clumps, appealing to large donors. The fact of the matter is that moderation and kaizen, small steps, is no way to motivate people to donate the big bucks. That takes substantial commitment and there is no such thing as radical centrism or fanatical moderation.
No, to get the big bucks you’ve got to appeal to rich, highly committed people with immoderate views. That, as much as anything, is the reason for the polarization in our politics. It’s an artifact of fundraising.
