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Could the leaders of both parties have it wrong? Could top Republicans and top Democrats inside DC be simultaneously obtuse about the reality beyond the Beltway? You know, out there in the USA? Is there something about life in Powertown that distorts insiders’ perception of outsiders? Okay, that last one is a trick question, because by now it’s obvious that Washington politicos of both parties are drastically out of touch with the folks they purport to represent.
Consider: On the Democratic side, President Obama has badly miscalculated on support for gun control, for Syrian intervention, and for his would-be-but-not-to-be nominee to the Federal Reserve chairmanship, Larry Summers. In each case, Obama thought Democrats would fall into line, and in each case, many of them broke ranks.
Meanwhile, on the Republican side, House Speaker John Boehner has equally miscalculated his fellow Republicans’ support for the farm bill, for immigration “reform,” and also for Syrian intervention. In addition, Boehner doesn’t have the support he wants on budgetary strategy, including the de-funding of Obamacare.
The result has been an existential crisis for DC leaders--they don’t seem to have any followers: As Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada lamented last week, “The anarchists have taken over. They've taken over the House, now they're here in the Senate.”
Okay, that was Reid complaining about Republicans, comparing them, one supposes, to black-clad punks on bicycles spray-painting a big red “A” on everything.
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