Right Down the Middle?
'Honor, trust, and respect for the Senate and the Constitution." These were the exalted words that enabled a bipartisan group of senators to avoid a destructive confrontation over judicial appointments. They overcame the threat to impose what Republicans themselves branded as the "nuclear option," which would have changed the long-standing rules that permitted the use of the filibuster to delay votes on judicial nominees. Many conservatives feel the Supreme Court is at the heart of the culture war in American life because of its rulings on issues like school prayer, obscenity and, above all, abortion.
In truth, this was really just another battle in the nation's culture war, and it reflects the growing significance of values--how people live their lives--versus economic class that has played such a critical role in the struggle between the Republican and Democratic parties and conservatives and liberals. At this point, the momentum is with the Republicans. Their popular majority may be small, but it is part of a significant trend, one that they believe they can convert into a durable political supremacy that could determine the nation's destiny for decades, similar to what FDR created in 1932 for the Democrats, which lasted until 1968.
The Republicans have had the Democrats on the defensive. They have won seven presidential victories in the last 10 elections since 1968; control of the House since 1994; and, recently, control of the Senate, both with increasing majorities. The Democrats have not broken 50 percent in any presidential election since 1976 or 48.5 percent in the six congressional elections since 1994. They have not won a majority of the white votes since 1964, and their geographic base has come to be concentrated on both coasts. You can fly over virtually the entire country without flying over states that voted Democratic.
This Republican resurgence has upended the traditional rule in politics that incomes, jobs, and economic outlook are decisive: "It's the economy, stupid." If it were, the Democrats should have coasted to victory in the 2000 election on the back of the boom of the Clinton years, and in 2004 on the developing squeeze on the middle and working classes from slow income growth and fast costs for healthcare, energy, and education that have led many families to feel they are falling behind, no matter how hard they work. The average two-income family earns far more than did most single-income families a generation ago, yet they have less discretionary income and savings than the latter because virtually all of their higher earnings go to keeping their families in the middle class, especially in homes near good and safe schools.
The "have nots " The ease of entry to the middle class that once buoyed the working lives of Americans and lies at the heart of the American dream has eroded. Higher education is now the ladder for moving up. But for many children the rungs are beyond reach, intensifying the growing gap between those with college and graduate degrees and those with only a high school diploma or who are high school dropouts, not to mention the bottom end where self-defined "have nots" have increased sharply, going since 1988 from 17 to 28 percent among whites and from 24 to 48 percent among blacks.
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