I used to be a big proponent of “asymmetrical polarization” — the idea that Republicans have gone right faster than Democrats have gone left — and I still see people cite it all the time.

But I don’t think it works as an account of the past 10-15 year. https://www.slowboring.com/p/is-asymmetrical-polarization-real

Since the Bush years, both parties have mostly moved left, with Democrats raising their ambitions and Republicans lowering theirs.

https://www.slowboring.com/p/is-asymmetrical-polarization-real

Instead, today’s liberals worry that — in @chrislhayes’ words — Republicans are “radicalizing against Democracy” and increasingly able to win power with <50% of the vote.

https://www.slowboring.com/p/is-asymmetrical-polarization-real

That danger is real! But especially given how real it is, it raises the question of why Democrats have become more ideologically strident rather than more focused on the need to win first and reform the political system. https://www.slowboring.com/p/is-asymmetrical-polarization-real