The Coalitions of the Willing

Following up my rant from the other day, in which I discussed the notion that the modern republican isn't the conservative that I knew and loved, I've come across an article that discussing the interesting nature of american politics in the two part-system.

Check it out.

It's major thesis is that the democratic and the repubilcan parties are NOT parties in the traditional sense of the word (which is better seen in our smaller splinter parties, like the green party, or in European parties), but they are rather party COALITIONS, which makes more sense the more I think about it. Consider a paragraph from the article.

When Bush looked like he could do no wrong, Repubs were glad to latch onto his coattails and be the Party of Bush. They supported what he supported, no matter how abhorrent the idea was to them (budget deficits, anyone?). But now that he's not doing so well, we're seeing many more independent-minded Repubs. His coalition is falling apart. But they’re not splitting off as individuals, but rather within the specific factions that they were always in. The Social Conservatives feel used and ignored; the Fiscal Conservatives feel betrayed; and the Neo-Conservatives just feel stupid. And within these groups are various sub-factions which have their own ideas of what needs to be done. But these groups always existed as implicit parties within the Republican coalition. And the only thing that kept them silent was the lure of success.

My rant from yesterday seems to fit well with this idea. My words could be seen as an argument that fical conservatives (the ones I was calling true conservatives) should feel angry and betrayed by the other Republican groups.

Anyway, if you get a chance, try skimming it. At times it can get a little boring, but for the most part it's really very nifty. (It also puts a different spin on recent actions performed by McCain, if you've been paying attention and choose to see it that way.)