Moderation in all things

"Moderation in all things" my mother used to say. I think about her advice when I contemplate the sorry state of affairs in our country's politics. Of course moderation was never in Trump's vocabulary, any more than deep thinking is part of his MO, but his brazenly offensive rhetoric has provoked an almost equally immoderate response from the left. Among those elected on the back of strong anti-Trump and to some degree anti-establishment sentiment have been three new members of congress, AOC, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, who have commanded considerable media attention. Initially warmly embraced as the future of the Democratic Party, they are proving to be something of a headache for Speaker Pelosi. 

The three freshmen members of congress, because of their out-sized twitter following and the media hype their election generated, felt empowered to speak out in ways that they must hope moves their agenda forward and the Democratic Party to the left. But their efforts may backfire on them in part because they are providing the caricatures of inexperience and naive idealism that is red meat to the alt-right, but is also absurdly divorced from reality in the eyes of moderates in their own party, the "Biden Wing" if you will.

When they begin to accuse moderates of racism, as AOC did recently when she said that she and her freshmen women colleagues were being excluded on the basis of their colo r, she not only weakens the party, but she alienates many reasonable level headed left-leaning members.

She and her like-minded freshmen collages may as much of a reaction to the injustices and resentment of the establishment as was Trump's election. But it is impossible to imagine a scenario in which they achieve real legislative power. And even if they did, an argument could be made that unless cooler heads prevail, their administration would be almost as chaotic and un-tethered from reality as our current one.

If they are being marginalized, they might ask themselves whether it is on the basis of their color, their gender, or their decisive rhetoric, wishful-thinking based policies and strategies. Power, as they have yet to learn, generally means coming to terms with its limits; the rest is simply talk.  Every political party has its crazies. Paul Ryan and John Baynor had to deal with the Tea Party. Trump has the alt-right and the white supremacists; The Dems have AOC and company. It's how you deal with  them that distinguishes inspirational leaders from inept managers.