Huffington Magazine Issue 53 | Page 12

Enter The post-McGovern Democratic Party, by contrast, while losing the bulk of its conservative Dixiecrat contingent in the decades after the civil rights revolution, has retained a more diverse base. Since the Clinton presidency, it has hewed to the center-left on issues from welfare reform to fiscal policy. While the Democrats may have moved from their 40-yard line to their 25, the Republicans have gone from their 40 to somewhere behind their goal post. In other words, they’ve quit the field, and in so doing, have hampered the quality of policymaking. It’s really, really easy to win arguments against Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), but what muscles are you working by doing so? Unfortunately, there’s really no way for the Democrats to will the GOP back onto the field. (And the news this week is F