Finding the Limits of Empathy
By THOMAS B. EDSALL, NYT
In any struggle, failure to understand the opposition is a weakness and a point of vulnerability. This is especially true in politics. Both the Democratic and the Republican parties have repeatedly fallen into the trap of overestimating popular support for their own policies and failing to anticipate hostile reactions to them.
In the 2012 election, two issues have already become symptomatic of this liability. The first is Obamacare, which, with its goal of universal coverage, exacts costs that many voters on the right and in the center view as unaffordable and undesirable.
The second is the Republican call for an austerity imposed primarily on the poor and elderly under the aegis of the Ryan budget that was recently passed by the House. It seeks a major retrenchment of the welfare state.
Re-election campaigns are often more ideologically charged than elections with no incumbent. In 2012, Obamacare and the Ryan budget represent the predominant governing vision of each party, which means that the outcome of the election on Nov. 6 will accurately test where the voters stand on issues of fairness, equity and equality.
(More here.)
In any struggle, failure to understand the opposition is a weakness and a point of vulnerability. This is especially true in politics. Both the Democratic and the Republican parties have repeatedly fallen into the trap of overestimating popular support for their own policies and failing to anticipate hostile reactions to them.
In the 2012 election, two issues have already become symptomatic of this liability. The first is Obamacare, which, with its goal of universal coverage, exacts costs that many voters on the right and in the center view as unaffordable and undesirable.
The second is the Republican call for an austerity imposed primarily on the poor and elderly under the aegis of the Ryan budget that was recently passed by the House. It seeks a major retrenchment of the welfare state.
Re-election campaigns are often more ideologically charged than elections with no incumbent. In 2012, Obamacare and the Ryan budget represent the predominant governing vision of each party, which means that the outcome of the election on Nov. 6 will accurately test where the voters stand on issues of fairness, equity and equality.
(More here.)
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