Both parties suffering from Electile Dysfunction

It’s nothing unusual for the Republican Party to encounter rifts among its various components. Every election, pundits and media-types delight in pointing out fractures, such as between the social conservatives and the limited government stalwarts that threaten to rip the party apart. It’s rarer for the Democrats to face serious attacks on party unity.

This year, however, intra-party sniping has opened wounds between key Democrat voting blocs. It’s not ideological disagreements that are causing the problem; the party is still in lockstep on the issues. All three top candidates are for taxing the (moderately) wealthy, putting the government in charge of healthcare, bugging out of Viet Nam Iraq, commiserating with the poor about lack of jobs and putting the screws to corporations and other job-producers.

Without discernable positions on issues to separate them, the candidates are forced to rely on differences in personality and appearance to achieve separation. They then appear to be surprised when their opponents call attention to these differences and take personal offense at perceptions of insults. But what else can they expect when they are all identical - except that one is half-black, one is half-woman, and the other is a half-full suit.

(Looking that last line over, it occurs to me it is not as obvious as I intended which is which. Oh, well - you work it out.)

Which party is more likely to work out their differences and come together in time for election day? Feelings do run deep among Republicans with many voters willing to support no one but the candidate they dislike the least. Will evangelicals be mollified if, say, McCain selects Huckabee as his VP? Will strong conservatives’ concerns about Romney or Giuliani be put to rest if either of them runs with Fred Thompson or Mark Sanford or Duncan Hunter? Time will tell and the possibilities at this point are infinite.

Historically, the Democrats have generally been able to put their differences aside and focus on the big prize – beating the Republicans. It is probable that Clinton and Obama will be able to do the same, just as JFK and LBJ – two adversaries who didn’t like each other much – did. On the other hand, if Bill Clinton’s constant jabbing at Obama leads to nasty reprisals, Hillary and Barrack might wind up knocking each other out and leaving Edwards to pick up the pieces.

Stay tuned; we’ll know a lot more after February 5.