Krugman: "Democrats and Republicans live in separate moral and intellectual universes."

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT: Op-Ed Columnist
The Great Divide
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: December 31, 2007

Yesterday The Times published a highly informative chart laying out the positions of the presidential candidates on major issues. It was, I’d argue, a useful reality check for those who believe that the next president can somehow usher in a new era of bipartisan cooperation. For what the chart made clear was the extent to which Democrats and Republicans live in separate moral and intellectual universes.

On one side, the Democrats are all promising to get out of Iraq and offering strongly progressive policies on taxes, health care and the environment. That’s understandable: the public hates the war, and public opinion seems to be running in a progressive direction. What seems harder to understand is what’s happening on the other side — the degree to which almost all the Republicans have chosen to align themselves closely with the unpopular policies of an unpopular president. And I’m not just talking about their continuing enthusiasm for the Iraq war. The G.O.P. candidates are equally supportive of Bush economic policies....

***

...except for Mike Huckabee — a peculiar case who’ll deserve more discussion if he stays in contention — the leading Republican contenders have gone out of their way to assure voters that they will not deviate an inch from the Bush path. Why? Because the G.O.P. is still controlled by a conservative movement that does not tolerate deviations from tax-cutting, free-market, greed-is-good orthodoxy.

To see the extent to which Republican politicians still cower before the power of movement conservatism, consider the sad case of John McCain....

***

There’s a fantasy, widely held inside the Beltway, that men and women of good will from both parties can be brought together to hammer out bipartisan solutions to the nation’s problems.

If such a thing were possible, Mr. McCain, Mr. Romney and Mr. Giuliani — a self-proclaimed maverick, the former governor of a liberal state and the former mayor of an equally liberal city — would seem like the kind of men Democrats could deal with. (O.K., maybe not Mr. Giuliani.) In fact, however, it’s not possible, not given the nature of today’s Republican Party, which has turned men like Mr. McCain and Mr. Romney into hard-line ideologues. On economics, and on much else, there is no common ground between the parties.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/31/opinion/31krugman.html?hp

[maxsolomon]

1. as soon as the nomination is over

the GOP candidate will run away from President Cheney & his puppet as fast as their little weasel legs can carry them.

[HughBeaumont]

2. The B & C Mafia are poison to the Pukes at this point.

And frankly, that's a good thing. An endorsement from either one will be detrimental to their nominee's chances. When you have more than millions of twice-Failure-Fuhrer voters as embarrassed by their choice as if they were caught urinating in public, you don't want that bad news on the same stage.

Too bad most of their delusional candidates are trying to sell the same corporate America/Patriot Act snake oil that Bewsh is still trying to sling unsuccessfully.

[Warpy]

3. The GOP got so close to fascist feudalism

and may yet achieve it. They cling ever more dearly to the rotten policies with every person who turns against them. Anyone who suggests bipartisanship with these clowns is seriously delusional.

Our only hope for this country is voting them out and keeping them out until their ideology dies. That didn't happen when we finally got rid of the Harding/Coolidge/Hoover disaster. The ideology just simmered in the background until everybody who remembered how bad they were died off, then came back as supply side economics, deregulation, hey, we'll increase competition and everybody wins, privatization snake oil and people who didn't remember the last batch of it and the Great Depression it caused bought it by the jugful.

There are two types of self made man: one who remembers where he came from and wants to pay back his good fortune and one who remembers where he came from and wants to forget it as quickly as possible as he claws his way into the establishment. There are two types of rich man: one who feels entitled by superior birth to the best the world has to offer and to hell with everybody else and another who knows he has great fortune and an obligation to pay it back. We need to look at our candidates in this light to figure out who is worth our vote in the primary and who is not and vote accordingly.

[soleft]

4. I want to see the chart he's talking about in 1st paragraph

can't seem to find a link anywhere

[alterfurz]

5. here's the link

http://politics.nytimes.com/election-guide/2008/issues/healthcare/index.html?#/context=index/issue=health

[DeepModem Mom]

6. Thank you, alterfurz! nt

[Jade Fox]

7. My understanding is....

that the reason the GOP candidates are mouthing a Bush line on most things is because the big money donors needed to seek candidacy all support Bush policies, and that as soon as someone is nominated he, will ditch Bush politics as quick as he can. Or course, that doesn't explain Romney, who has mostly spent his own money.

The Republicans aren't totally stupid. They know Bush and his policies have been a disaster. But they have to please their super-wealthy donors. It's an enjoyable bind they are in.

[roguevalley]

8. I will find it hard to vote for any dem who espouses reconciliation.

Until the world is righted here, reconciliation means appeasement. No more.