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| Can Liberals All Just Get Along? | Can Liberals All Just Get Along? |
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| This article is part of the Opinion Today newsletter. You can sign up here to receive more briefings and a guide to the section daily in your inbox. | This article is part of the Opinion Today newsletter. You can sign up here to receive more briefings and a guide to the section daily in your inbox. |
| The conservative movement has damaged itself by turning its version of perfect into an enemy of its version of good. | The conservative movement has damaged itself by turning its version of perfect into an enemy of its version of good. |
| When President Obama wanted to negotiate over his health-care bill in 2009 and was willing to talk about tort reform, a longtime Republican priority, Congressional Republicans said no — and had nothing to show for their opposition in the final version of the law. | |
| When Obama nominated four judges to the influential federal appeals court in Washington, Republicans refused to support even the moderates among them — and so Democrats rammed through all four, including a strong liberal. | When Obama nominated four judges to the influential federal appeals court in Washington, Republicans refused to support even the moderates among them — and so Democrats rammed through all four, including a strong liberal. |
| And when Republicans had a chance to nominate appealing candidates for several open Senate seats in recent years, the party’s primary voters instead went with extremists — and lost the seats. | And when Republicans had a chance to nominate appealing candidates for several open Senate seats in recent years, the party’s primary voters instead went with extremists — and lost the seats. |
| Meanwhile, Democrats have recently shed much of their old self-defeating infighting, and the party’s left and center have repeatedly come together. Democrats haven’t thrown out their incumbents through divisive primaries or undermined their policy priorities through internal disagreements. | Meanwhile, Democrats have recently shed much of their old self-defeating infighting, and the party’s left and center have repeatedly come together. Democrats haven’t thrown out their incumbents through divisive primaries or undermined their policy priorities through internal disagreements. |
| But it would be a mistake to imagine that the Democrats’ relative unity is a permanent condition. Already, there are signs of rising tensions between the left and center. Disruptive chants interrupted parts of this year’s nominating convention in Philadelphia, and third-party candidates have — so far, at least — had relatively high polling numbers. | |
| The next few years will probably bring plenty of chances for Democrats to splinter. Under a President Hillary Clinton, the party would have won the popular vote in an unprecedented six of the last seven elections and still struggled to pass many of its biggest legislative priorities. Many liberals will no doubt be tempted to abandon incremental gains — to think that if only they pursue a purer brand of politics liberated from compromise, they will find more success. | |
| It’s an alluring idea, but it doesn’t work so well in practice. Just ask the country’s minority party. | It’s an alluring idea, but it doesn’t work so well in practice. Just ask the country’s minority party. |