Ideas Are Not Enough

The outgoing Senator Ben Sasse’s closing Wall Street Journal op-ed, “America’s True Divide: Pluralists vs. Zealots,” arrived in my inbox this afternoon. As I’ve made clear in the past, I’m of the opinion that Mr. Sasse is a perfect fit for his upcoming position as college president but was a less-than-perfect fit for his eight-year tenure as a U.S. senator. His diagnosis of the republic’s present ills in the Journal provides an insight into why.

“The most important divide in American politics isn’t red versus blue,” Sasse declares in the opening line. “It’s civic pluralists versus political zealots.” The former “understand that ideas move the world more than power does, which is why pluralists value debate and persuasion.” The latter “reject this, holding that society starts and ends with power.” He continues:

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Nate Hochman

Nate Hochman was a staff writer at National Review.

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Ben Sasse

The outgoing Senator Ben Sasse’s closing Wall Street Journal op-ed, “America’s True Divide: Pluralists vs. Zealots,” arrived in my inbox this afternoon. As I’ve made clear in the past, I’m of the opinion that Mr. Sasse is a perfect fit for his upcoming position as college president but was a less-than-perfect fit for his eight-year tenure as a U.S. senator. His diagnosis of the republic’s present ills in the Journal provides an insight into why.

“The most important divide in American politics isn’t red versus blue,” Sasse declares in the opening line. “It’s civic pluralists versus political zealots.” The former “understand that ideas move the world more than power does, which is why pluralists value debate and persuasion.” The latter “reject this, holding that society starts and ends with power.” He continues: