"As it happens, the Republican and Democratic parties are not really movements or even political terms that represent a fully coherent set of ideas. They are mostly marketing tools, brands, bundles of cultural signifiers, meant to communicate a vague set of values, inspire a sense of personal identification, and manipulate voters into acting in the interests of a coalition of pressure groups that may or may not have much to do with the advertised values of the partisan brand. The interests of the National Education Association do not coincide with the interests of the neglected and ill-educated poor, but that doesn't stop people who care intensely about the interests of the poor from voting again and again for Democrats. Likewise, the interests of the vast national-security-industrial complex do not coincide with the interests of those who love liberty, yet that does not stop self-proclaimed liberty-lovers from favouring Republicans at the polls.
Okay, so now what?
Posted by: jabbett at October 2, 2010 11:36 PM