The NYT reports on two primary election results where a relatively unknown liberal Democrats defeated two centrists (one a member of the Blue Dog Coalition) that had opposed Obamacare. Commentary in the story echoes much of what we've discussed in class:
The ouster of the Democratic incumbents — and the tough primaries being
waged against some House Republicans — suggest that redistricting
ultimately is going to send more liberal Democrats and more conservative
Republicans to the House.
The parties have become more polarized in recent decades, several
academic studies have found. The demise of the conservative “Dixiecrats”
in the 1960s and ’70s made the Democratic Party more liberal, and
Republicans have moved even further to the right than Democrats have
moved to the left, the studies show. Elections like Tuesday’s suggest
Democrats may be taking the Republicans’ cue, driven by the same
activist forces that pushed them rightward.
The story also suggests the same consequence we've wondered about - a more polarized Congress even less able to deal with the nation's problems. Centrism does not get you elected in the primaries. What does this tell us about whose voice really matters"
