[IP] Hold the Vitriol
Hold the Vitriol
November 12, 2003
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Considering the savagery with which the Snarling Right
excoriated President Clinton as a "sociopath," blocked
judicial appointments, undermined U.S. military operations
from Kosovo to Iraq, hounded Vincent Foster and then
accused the Clintons of murdering him, it is utterly
hypocritical for conservatives to complain about liberal
incivility.
But they're right.
Liberals have now become as intemperate as conservatives,
and the result - everybody shouting at everybody else -
corrodes the body politic and is counterproductive for
Democrats themselves. My guess is that if the Democrats
stay angry, then they'll offend Southern white guys, with
or without pickups and flags, and lose again.
A new report from the Pew Research Center says that America
is more polarized now than at any time since its polling
series began in 1987. Partly that's because it used to be
just the Republicans who were intense in their beliefs,
while now both sides are frothing.
The latest Progressive magazine features the article "Call
Me a Bush-Hater," and The New Republic earlier published
"The Case for Bush Hatred."
I see the fury in my e-mail messages. In a fairly typical
comment, one reader suggested that President Bush and his
aides are "lying, cynical greedy pirates who deserve no
better than a firing squad." At this rate, soon we'll all
be so rabid that Ann Coulter will seem normal.
I worry about the polarization partly because I'm afraid
that America is now transforming into something like Old
Europe, the political moonscape that I remember when I was
a student in England in the 1980's.
Two friends, both named Chris, epitomized Britain to me
back then. Right-wing Chris was an an ardent Conservative
from the south, a graduate of an exclusive private school;
left-wing Chris was a working-class bloke from the north, a
Labor Party supporter from a state school. Right-wing Chris
read The Telegraph; left-wing Chris read The Guardian.
That was pretty typical of the tribalism of Old Europe.
Left and right came from different social classes, lived in
different areas, attended different schools and despised
each other.
Since then, Europe has matured and become much less
polarized - becoming more like (Old) America. And
unfortunately the U.S. is transforming itself into the
classic European pattern of reinforcing cleavages. A red
state/blue state divide overlaps an evangelical/secular
divide and a Fox News/Al Franken divide.
The most striking cleavage is the God Gulf, and it should
terrify the Democrats. Put simply, liberals are becoming
more secular at a time when America is becoming
increasingly religious, the consequence of a new Great
Awakening. Americans, for example, are significantly more
likely now than in 1987 to say they "completely agree" that
"prayer is an important part of my daily life" and that "we
all will be called before God on Judgment Day to answer for
our sins."
The Pew survey found that white evangelicals are leaving
the Democratic Party in droves. Fifteen years ago, white
evangelicals were split equally between the two parties;
now they're twice as likely to be Republicans. Likewise,
white Catholics who attend Mass regularly used to be
strongly Democratic; now they are more likely to be
Republican.
Since Americans are three times as likely to believe in the
virgin birth of Jesus as in evolution, liberal derision for
President Bush's religious beliefs risks marginalizing the
left.
Anyone who isn't concerned by the growing political
incivility in this country doesn't remember how the
antagonisms in Europe became so caustic that they often
blocked governance (not to mention triggered civil wars in
Spain and Greece). Already, in this country the public
vitriol discourages public service.
The left should have learned from Newt Gingrich that rage
impedes understanding - and turns off voters. That's why
President Bush was careful in 2000, unlike many in his
party, to project amiability and optimism.
Core Democratic voters are becoming so angry that some are
hoping for bad economic figures and bad Iraq news just to
hurt President Bush. At this rate, Democrats risk turning
themselves into an American version of the old British
Labor Party under Michael Foot, which reliably blasted the
Tory government and reliably lost elections.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/12/opinion/12KRIS.html?ex=1069733157&ei=1&en=1ada78a6b55e8840
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