But you're invoking examples, at least in the latter case, that don't really speak to the issue at hand. The question isn't how "divisive" the "center" will be in general, but specifically relative to the prospect of a Democratic primary. A likely guess, extrapolating from past experience, is that at first there would be a sharp pushback trying to deter, but if it could not be deterred, there would be accommodation, on the grounds that continued efforts to deter would be self-destructive.
On Wed, Nov 3, 2010 at 5:11 PM, Jim Devine <[email protected]> wrote: > Robert Naiman wrote: >> It's true that it takes two sides not to be divisive, but just 1) like >> Obama with the Republicans, you could make clear that your side is not >> the source of the divisiveness and 2) while there would very be likely >> be some significant pushback, especially at the beginning, the center >> camp would have different incentives than the Republicans, since the >> latter actually benefit from the divisiveness. It's possible that they >> could end up taking the high road - that's largely what they did in >> 2008. > > back in the late 1940s, the "center" (Truman) was quite divisive (at > the same time it _called for_ unity), setting the stage for > McCarthyism. In the 1960s, the "center" (LBJ) was also divisive (at > the same time it called for unity), by escalating the war. I could go > on, but I have other things to do. > -- > Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own > way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante. > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l > -- Robert Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org [email protected] Urge Congress to Support a Timetable for Military Withdrawal from Afghanistan http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/feingold-mcgovern _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
