In a recent article in Current Affairs called “Why Republicans are Impressive” Michael Kinnucan explains the Republican strategy and how they are able to win elections despite–and because of–extreme positions. He is absolutely right. It is impressive. It is also terrifying that this strategy has worked so well, but we should all be impressed.
This is some smart writing on their primary-crazed run-up to 2016. The lesson for progressives is to primary the crap out of any and all centrist Democrats, start repeating things like “Social Security is not going broke and needs to be expanded,” and “healthcare is a human right,” and wait for the message to sink in, if we want any chance of making any progress. At this point “making progress” may only mean laying the groundwork to stop the Trump/Ryan agenda after the 2018 midterms, but, well, that would be something.
