Legal Commentary

"Moderation" 's Only Constituency Is In The Beltway

By Big Tent Democrat

What is called "moderation" in the Beltway has proven unpopular in the country. In his column today, E.J. Dionne elides this point:

On health care, months of delay in a futile quest for Republican support got the Democrats the worst of all worlds. The media gave them no credit for reaching out to the other side but did blame them for an ugly, gridlocked process. The demands of moderate Democrats for concessions [. . .] made the process look even seamier. [. . .] Nobody wants to admit that on health care the moderates won all the big fights. [. . .]

And if the Republicans refuse to cooperate, this will not mean that the bill isn't moderate. It will mean only that Republicans refuse to vote for a moderate bill. But if all the media talk about the "failure of moderation" is nonsense, this doesn't get liberals or Obama off the hook.

(Emphasis supplied.) 2009 was a year of "moderate" governance. And no one except the Beltway liked it. That is the political reality.

Speaking for me only

Full post as published by TalkLeft on February 18, 2010 (boomark / email).