On Fri, 25 Feb 2011, Doug Henwood wrote:
> In any case, like I said one party is insanely right wing and the other
> is just tepidly so. But the increased polarization in voting patterns is
> at odds with what a lot of people say on the left, which is all about a
> narrowing difference between the parties. That just doesn't fit with the
> historical record.
You're right that there hasn't a narrowing between the parties. But there has been an obvious narrowing between the right and left sides of debate. That those sides are now differently distributed -- between rather than within the parties -- has turned out to be a minor detail in this particular political system with little effect.
Michael