Basically Mr. Ferholz takes on Peter Bienart over the direction a "big tent" coalition should take. Mr. Bienart makes the case for smart centrists policies to prolong the large majority. I tend to agree with Mr. Ferholz when he says (emphasis added mine):
Believers in the Big Tent, like Peter and myself, have to be very careful about the compromises they make. If you lose track of what the point of politics is -- what you leave behind -- then you risk betraying the entire progressive agenda. If Peter thinks today's progressives should choose economic issues over other ones, he should make that case explicitly. But he shouldn't pretend that it's a normatively good choice. There's going to come a time when this Democratic majority has the chance to do something so big and important that it will destroy itself by alienating its conservative and moderate members. Maybe it will be gay marriage, maybe it will be the Freedom of Choice Act, who knows. I hope the leadership at the time has the principles and the guts to pass the law and blow up their majority. That's what it's there for, after all.
This is by definition what leadership means. Sometimes you will pay a price for your decisions. Even if they make for a better society in the long run, there are always consequences in the short. Accepting that, and being thoughtful yet bold are what those moments are made for.
And secondly, if you have not seen it. There is a snowball that survived a little longer in Hell today. Sean Hannity apologized to Jon Stewart last night about this piece that run on the Daily Show the other night. And here is a nice summation of what Stewart actually did by Will Bunch, and why it is so embarrassing for the mainstream media organizations.
One final article for the science oriented of you out there.
-Cheers
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