The end of orthodoxy

It’s been amusing recently watching ideologues in both major parties twist themselves into a rage while invoking the name of Ronald Reagan.

For the Dems, the issue was Barack Obama’s candid assessment of Reagan:

“I think Ronald Reagan changed the trajectory of America in a way that Richard Nixon did not and in a way that Bill Clinton did not. He put us on a fundamentally different path because the country was ready for it… he just tapped into what people were already feeling, which was we want clarity, we want optimism, we want a return to that sense of dynamism and entrepreneurship that had been missing.”

Horrors! You mean Obama didn’t just stick to the Democratic orthodoxy of Reagan as the progenitor of all that is wrong in modern America? No, he didn’t. He spoke a broader truth about Reagan, one which party warhorses may not care to hear, especially coming from the mouth of one of their own, but which is nonetheless true. I might have disagreed with Ronald Reagan on just about every policy issue he ever touched, but there is no denying that he connected with the American people in a way no president has since. His innate optimism inspired people, even people (the so-called “Reagan Democrats”) who really should have been paying closer attention to his views before voting for him.

On the Republican side, John McCain has been raked over the coals -- and compared unfavorably to Reagan -- for his repeated failure over the years to bow to certain orthodoxies of the conservative movement. He believes global warming requires immediate attention and that our campaign financing rules are in dire need of reform. He wouldn't necessarily condemn either gays or illegal immigrants to being second-class citizens of the country in which they live. Et cetera.

What Obama and McCain have in common -- beside momentum in their respective primary contests -- is that they have both declined to bow down to the hardcore ideologues within their own party. In the process, they have each made small but important steps toward breaking free of party orthodoxies and charting a new path that attempts to bridge the bitter divide between the conservative and liberal extremes in America. The fact that these two figures are each ascendant in their respective parties speaks volumes about the voters’ desire for (here comes that word) change – as in, candidates who don’t just parrot the same old rigid party dogma, but actually think independently and speak their minds sincerely about the issues of the day.

Reagan once famously declared it morning in America. If the fall contest turns out to be Obama vs. McCain, it will indeed be a brand new day for American politics – and citizens of all philosophical stripes should welcome that.