Joel Achenbach has an interesting item today arguing that the extended presidential primary season has led the candidates in both parties to pander shamelessly, in order to offer more “red meat” to their respective bases. I think Achenbach is only half right.
We’re already deep into Red Meat Season…. It’s no secret that candidates play to the base during the primary season, and that nominees drift toward the center for the general election. But the center has become a killing ground. […]
Only partisans are paying attention, and partisans aren’t political vegans. So anyone seeking the party’s nomination must know how to serve up the big slabs of flesh.
Maybe, but has the pandering to the parties’ bases really been that bad? In looking at the Democrats’ leading candidates, Clinton, Edwards, and Obama have practically been the models for restraint.
During one campaign event not too long ago, a voter in Iowa noted the record budget deficits generated by Bush’s fiscal recklessness and asked Edwards to respond. An easy one for red-meat politics, right? Wrong. Edwards said domestic programs, not deficit reduction, would be his top priority. He insisted that politicians should be “honest” about the “common sense in the math.”
Hillary Clinton is routinely offered opportunities to denounce her 2002 vote on the Iraq war resolution. Under Achenbach’s model, the senator would quickly pander, telling progressive audiences what they want to hear. She hasn’t. Obama seems to reflexively reject pandering altogether. Said one constituent, “Obama tells you the hard truths, and other politicians, particularly from Chicago, they tend to tell you what they think you want to hear.”
So where’s all the red-meat pandering bothering Achenbach? He quotes one example from one Democratic candidate: Mike Gravel. That’s hardly persuasive evidence.
Indeed, Achenbach’s piece is filled with notable examples, but they’re all from Republicans trying to placate the far-right GOP base. Said Ron Paul of his rivals, “They’re worried about the immediate next election, which is the Republican primary, and anything they can do to pander, they’ll do it, and they’ll forget about what they believe in, they’ll forget about the Constitution, they’ll forget about building coalitions.”
I’m afraid Achenbach put a pox on both houses, when only one deserves it.
