Post-Primary Stress Syndrome
Pat Sajak ·
Sep 17, 2010 at 4:37am
I was talking about the Delaware results with a Conservative Congressman at an event last night, and he made an interesting and, I think, accurate point. Democrats are much better at closing ranks after primary battles than Republicans. That could be simply because their differences are not as great but, for whatever reason, you're more likely to see the losing Democrat on stage holding the winner's arm up in the air. What gives people the impression of a Civil War on the Right is not so much the battle, but the post-battle petulance. Republicans may be better at a lot of things, but kissing and making up isn't one of them.
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Comments :
May '10
Re: Post-Primary Stress Syndrome
The Delaware schedule is all screwed up. Not only is the primary too close to the election, the convention (where these things are usually patched up, at least superficially) happens before the primary in, like, May. Why? Because Delaware isn't a real state, that's why.
The only other incident I can think of this year is Alaska, but that's a personal blood feud, so what can you do?. Does the Congressman cite any other example?
Petulant-ness?
Re: Post-Primary Stress Syndrome
I quite liked that neologism. It has a certain petulant-ness about it. But Pat thought better of it.
May '10
Re: Post-Primary Stress Syndrome
Petulanticity has a petulesque ring to it.
May '10
Re: Post-Primary Stress Syndrome
I'm sure someone can provide examples that devastate this assumption, but it seems like the serious primary challenges Democratic incumbents & party acolytes faces are from the middle. Since general elections are all about hearts and flowers for "the middle," it makes sense that Democratic Party bigwigs find it easy to embrace successful upstarts at the last minute.
On our side of the aisle, challenges come from the opposite of "the middle," offering alternatives to incumbents or Party favorites that too often resemble Democrat-lite. When there's an upset, the GOP leadership can say (with some accuracy), "thanks a lot, now the other team gets that seat," as Rove and others demonstrated so grumpily this week.
Then again, it could be a simple matter of Republican higher-ups just being worse at politics than the big dogs in the Democratic leadership!
Jun '10
Re: Post-Primary Stress Syndrome
An insurrection within the Republican Party is entirely necessary as the first step in taking back the country. It's only to be expected that insiders are going to resent the sharp elbows thrown about by neophytes who demand reform. To them I say, "get used to it." We're sick and tired of business as usual. This is all about a return to founding principles. Lead, follow, or get out of the way.
Re: Post-Primary Stress Syndrome
Pat, I think this is a really interesting point. Among Republicans, you have some pretty clear philosophical divides: libertarian, traditional conservative, paleocon, neocon, etc. Sometimes, adhering to the tenets of one means that you are in contradiction with the other. (This is where tensions occur in primary season). But do those philosophical divides exist with Democrats? I'm not really sure, but on first glance, it seems not. With Democrats, the internal philosophical debates seem to be more of a matter of degree than of kind: how statist should we be. I could be wrong. I'd love to read the Democrats' equivalent of Russell Kirk's The Making of the Conservative Mind. Is there such a book?
Sep '10
Re: Post-Primary Stress Syndrome
Emily, glad you asked. On the Left, we have many great books we would love you to read! A very recent book close to the intent of Kirk's book is The Conscience of a Liberal by Paul Krugman.
Jul '10
Re: Post-Primary Stress Syndrome
Did he just compare Russell Kirk to Paul Krugman?
Gee, I, um, never thought of it that way before....
May '10
Re: Post-Primary Stress Syndrome
Just read Mike Murphy's thread for examples on both sides, but mostly on the farther right.
Jul '10
Re: Post-Primary Stress Syndrome
Losing with grace is an absolute standard regardless of party affiliation or political philosophy.
It reveals the poor character of those candidates who choose not to do so.
Jun '10
Re: Post-Primary Stress Syndrome
Principle might also have something to do with the Right's inability to iron out differences. The Left is far more malliable, in that it conforms pragmatically to the political lay of the land.
Aug '10
Re: Post-Primary Stress Syndrome
Pat Sajak:
Republicans may be better at a lot of things, but kissing and making up isn't one of them. ·
Well, maybe not in public. Private life is another matter...
May '10
Re: Post-Primary Stress Syndrome
I think it is all about principles. On the left it is about acquisition of power for power's sake. On the right it is about acquisition of power for principle's sake. But there are enough different permutations and combinations of principles -- economic, social, moral, etc. -- that reconciliation can be a challenge. If I am a pro-life fiscal conservative and you are a pro-choice fiscal conservative, it requires a big concession for us to work together.
Jul '10
Re: Post-Primary Stress Syndrome
I think of the Democratic Party more in terms of a vast array of identity- and economic-based interest groups looking for their piece of the pie. Not to say that the Republican Party does not contian interest groups, but those on the Left seem more interested in pork rather than ideology, or at least, their particular ideology that is tailored to bring them as much pork as possible.
Thus, any Democratic politician either has to be strongly supported by their interest group or have the dexterity to please several interest groups. This natural inclination to compromise and please everyone probably makes it a lot easier for Democrats to accept defeat at the hands of another Democrat, whereas for many Republican primary races (Delaware, for example) there may be very stark ideological divisions between the candidates that may have been harder to swallow after a hard-fought battle.
I do, however, agree that having and acting with character is an absolute necessity when in or running for public office. The simple lack of character and excess of petulance on the part of Republicans, however, is beyond me.