Drifting...

On Saturday, while discussing politics with Maryanne, Amy, and Luke, I made the comment that it seemed like politics had become vastly more polarized than it used to be. I conceded that it might only be my perception, since I'm older and more mature now, and tend to pay more attention to politics than I once did.

Part of my opinion was that it seemed like both parties had drifted away from the center, Republicans drifting toward the right now that they have control, and Democrats drifting more towards the left.

Luke disagreed with my assessment of the Democrats.

Upon further reflection, I think I'm going to stand by my opinion.

All through the campaign leading up to the election, there was an attitude among liberals of "dump Bush at all costs." There was the debacle with Dan Rather and the forged memos, there was all the celebrity stumping on behalf of John Kerry, the resorts to ad hominem attacks, and there was the typecasting of Bush as not so much being the wrong person for the job, but of being evil.

I won't argue that a lot of campaigning for Bush (or, more appropriately, against Kerry) was just as alarmist. Didn't I just say that the Republicans moved further to the right? However, in the media I was reading at the time, the attacks were on Kerry's positions, platforms, opinions, and actions. Kerry wasn't cast as evil, and his person was never drawn in to question, nor his intelligence. His ability to lead was brought in to question, but I felt that the campaign against Kerry never stooped so low as that against Bush.

That being said, I do concede that the Republican party has gotten incredibly ballsy since the election, and I don't feel that's a good thing. The federal government consists of a series of checks and balances, established for a reason. Doing away with filibusters would be detrimental to the system. However, the Democrats universal rejection of all of Bush's court nominees isn't good, either.

Sooner or later this is all going to come to a head. When it does, I hope the cooler, moderate heads and common sense prevail. I've had enough of the elitist, ignoring of middle America attitude from the left, as well as the "Holier than thou" attitude from the far right.