The Occasional Observer

In his always insightful Horserace Blog over at RCP, Jay Cost takes a look at the disgusting "General Betray Us" ad run by MoveOn in the Times. He sees it as evidence that political parties are unable to constrain their partisans, and advocacy groups are pressing the agenda where the parties used to. The Dems would never have consented to this ad, even if they agree with it, because, as Cost points out: "It was an ad that gave the GOP an opportunity to shift the debate - from talk about the course of the war to talk about the war's opponents."

With the proliferation of advocacy groups and their increased visibility, the parties have beome more reactive, with interest groups pushing the agenda. Our political discourse has become more fractured as a result. Cost seems to be pining for smoke-filled rooms where a few power-brokers could set the talking points and politicians would fall in line. At least in that scenario, the power-brokers had to opportunity to accomplish something. Now we're lost in a bunch of "cross talk" where the party has a hard time creating an executing a meaningful political agenda:

Parties that are responsible set the agenda in a way that is relevant and coherent. That is, they make it so that our national political conversation regards issues that are of importance to citizens, and that can result in real solutions to these pressing problems. Weakened parties, like those of today, lack the capacity to set the agenda. One of the consequences of this is incoherence. Without the parties managing what gets said, everybody says whatever they want to say, and we have nothing but crosstalk. Politics reduces to an extended episode of Hardball. And, just like in Hardball, nothing of importance is ever accomplished. Everybody just yells across one another.