During a brief drive in the car yesterday, I learned from listening to NPR that Michael Gerson does most of his writing in coffee houses, particularly Starbucks. Apparently, he even did this back when his office was in the White House compound. He says that he prefers to write in public because he doesn’t like to be interrupted, but I suspect that part of the problem was that his co-workers couldn’t stand him.
Matthew Scully once said, “For all of our chief speechwriter’s finer qualities, the firm adherence to factual narrative is not a strong point.” Yet, I give him credit. In his column today he recognizes the problem that the Republicans have with their base. He may state the obvious, but more people need to say it: “…on the national level, the GOP needs to appeal to many Americans who haven’t voted Republican in a while and who find the party itself a bit scary.”
When a political party starts to seem “a bit scary,” that’s a big concern. When they start to dehumanize their political opponents while waving their guns around, a well-adjusted person begins to worry. Mr. Gerson understands this.
But he still can’t help himself. A firm adherence to factual narrative has never been his strong point (see: axis of evil, mushroom cloud).
So, we get this:
Post-Obamacare liberalism is in a state of disrepair, having alienated growing numbers of political independents.
ObamaCare was enacted four years ago. The president easily won reelection two years ago. The Democrats picked up Senate and House seats, and won the midterm popular vote handily. If Mr. Gerson meant to refer to the post-healthcare.gov period, he should have said so.
In any case, as badly as Mr. Gerson wishes it were otherwise, the Tea Party folks are not going away and they will not stop talking about social issues or making braindead proclamations.
Even so, the Tea Partiers are more open to immigration reform than the Republicans in Congress. So, killing the GOP’s own chances is a joint effort here.
Which party is in disrepair?
