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October 25, 2006

Litmus testing democracy

One of the things that has really turned me off about todays GOP is how the rightwing litmus test fellow Republicans. That mentality seems to have perculated out into the general rank and file to the point that political issues and ideas are accepted or rejected not on their merits but on the merits of who advocated them in the first place.

Two of my favorite blogs are Blue Oregon which feeds the disgusted-with-rightwing-republicans in me and Centerfield which feeds the centrist/moderate-indie in me. Yesterday there was a post on Blue Oregon which kinda pushed all of those buttons at once. One of my favorite B.O. writers, Jeff Alworth's Room For Agreement, analyzed a recent poll indicating that moderate Independents are swinging Left in rejection of the GOP's "failed process of governance, wayward policies, and incompetent execution" and how the Democrats stand to gain from that rejection.

I agreed but pointed out that moderates aren't going to be any more pleased with litmus testing by the Left than we have been with litmus testing by the Right.

Jeff replied with agreement and restated his point that the Dems have an opportunity to retake the House and govern from closer to the center (than have the GOP)"to swing us back toward uncontroversial progressive change."

I don't disagree. But, I'm not sure that his suggestion will work out in reality. And I had to look no further than another post at Blue Oregon later in the day yesterday to find evidence to support my skepticism.

Another of my fav B.O. writers, T.A. Barnhart's post Just because I voted for M42 doesn't mean you're not a jerk, Bill is essentially a mia culpa where T.A. seeks to justify having voted for an Oregon ballot measure that he fully agrees with (as do I) but whose author is widely hated by Oregon Democrats. Rather than discussing why he voted for Measure 42, T.A., knowing that B.O.'s readership has shifted solidly to the Left over the last two years, and seemingly anticipating a backlash went on a tear against Measure 42's author. As if the measure's author has any bearing on the merits of the measure. Worse, T.A. indicated that he will never again vote for a measure brought by that same hated author.

That, my friends, is a reaction to an unspoken litmus test and is exactly the kind of thing that is going to hurt the Left in the near future.

Balkanizing the democratic process harms all Oregonians. It's what's wrong with the status quo and it's what's wrong with the leading alternative.

Posted by Kevin at October 25, 2006 09:45 AM