More On Political Shifts

Looks like more than just the electorate are changing sides:

Our foreign policy debate right now pits radicals against conservatives. Republicans are the radicals. Democrats are the conservatives.

That jarring but shrewd perspective, offered by Anthony Lake, President Clinton's former national security adviser, explains much that is strange in our national discussion. And while Lake is critical of President Bush's policies, he does not use the word 'radical' to make a partisan point. He is also critical of his party's newly discovered conservatism.

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Democrats have been in a box since the Iraq debate began because they have always identified with the emphasis on spreading democracy that is at the heart of Bush's rhetoric, but are deeply uneasy with the use of military force to impose new regimes, even democratic ones, on other nations. They want to preserve alliances and the old institutions of international cooperation.

All this, says Lake, now a professor at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, is why Democrats are today's conservatives.

So Democrats are Conservative and Republicans are Liberal? Somehow I don't think the change is quite that drastic. But it certainly fits with the point I made to my housemate the other night:

"There is no '100%' correct political ground - not even the middle. On some issues, the correct view is that of the hardcore right. On others, it's the hardcore left. On still others, it's a compromise between them - but it's never all one side."

I think that's true (and yes, I'm implying that I don't always believe everything I say - that's one of the hazards of having to speak to understand what one thinks), and I think the recent political shifts give support to that idea. People are starting to recognize what positions are correct for this current situation, and are adjusting to match them. It's the nature of 'the social pendulum' (can I trademark that phrase?), and will undoubtedly swing back the other way soon enough; so I'll enjoy this excursion back into "the right" while it lasts.
-- posted by Austin @ 10:19 AM (PermaLink/Comment) ¶