Are You Boring or Bonkers?

Which would you rather be? Boring or bonkers? According to Peggy Noonan, the Republican Party honchos think their base is boring. But the Democratic Party leaders think their base is bonkers.

She’s probably right. It is probably true that the Republican leaders think that:

They know the higher wisdom on such issues as immigration... have a more nuanced sense of reality. And as for conservative social issues groups, the politicians resent those nagging, whining pushers-for-the-impossible who are always threatening to stay home or go elsewhere. (Where?)

Nothing there that a good sharp blow between the eyes won’t cure. But pity the poor Democratic leadership.

They don't only think they're more sophisticated than their base, more informed and aware of the complexities. I believe they think their base is mad.

OK. So all this makes for a good article when you can’t think of anything else to write about. But let us not be misled by our cynicism. Peggy Noonan is telling us that the system is working.

Despite their annoyance, our political elites have to think about what the people are thinking, they have to keep themselves aligned with the irritating activists in their respective parties. That is good and healthy.

You do not get that impression, for instance, when reading about politics in Britain. In that crime ridden country, the Labour Party has almost completely forgotten its working-class base in its frantic effort to make itself palatable to Middle England. And the Tory Party under David Cameron is steering dangerously far away from its conservative, middle-class base in an effort to woo the upscale professionals who deserted the “nasty” party to vote for Tony Blair.

In Britain, the two major parties take their bases completely for granted. In the US, the two major parties only wish they could.

And that may be as good as it gets.