Clive McFarlane: No common ground to be found
The one word not heard often, if at all, by any of the major Democratic presidential candidates in their primary debates thus far is "bipartisanship."
This is a significant development in American politics, it appears to me.
Many will perhaps agree that much of the country's progress towards a fairer and a more just society was primarily achieved through an unrelenting appeal to the moral conscience of the nation and through tedious, bipartisanship efforts to achieve incremental gains toward that just end.
Yet,
Among those bipartisan successes,
Many will argue,
Among them were
As to the Bush tax cuts,
"The extension of tax cuts and unemployment benefits amounted to about
Whether or not you agree with
Coming after their 2012 presidential defeat, Republican strategists argued about taking two options: move away from extremist policies that alienate people of color, women and young voters or double down with greater efficiency on those polices.
The party, with its embrace of
And now, many
Wednesday night's Democratic Presidential debate, in which
It is clear, that like the extremists on the Republican side, the Democratic progressive base is unwilling to support any moderate policy they believe extends, rather than vanquishes, social, economic and environmental injustices.
That is why candidates such as Sen.
"It won't be enough to just undo the terrible acts of this administration,"
"We can't afford to just tinker around the edges – a tax credit here, a regulation there. Our fight is for big, structural change."
Despite her radical polices and despite polls showing former Vice President
That would be an outcome that would be just fine with progressives, for then the 2020 presidential election will provide Americans with a clear choice between Democratic socialism and
And for many progressives, such a defining choice has to be made before they can reengage in bipartisan policymaking.
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